Hong Kong high-rise fire: More bodies recovered as death toll continues to soar; 8 people arrested
FILE-Smoke rises from residential buildings as fires continue to burn at Wang Fuk Court in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong, China, on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (Lam Yik/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Firefighters recovered dozens more bodies early Friday in an apartment search at a Hong Kong high-rise complex where a massive fire destroyed seven buildings, with police arresting another eight people involved in the towers’ renovation.
The massive fire occurred at the Wang Fuk Court complex, a collection of buildings housing thousands of people in Tai Po district, a northern suburb near Hong Kong’s border with the mainland.
Death toll continues to climb in high-rise fire
Dig deeper:
The Associated Press reported that the death toll in one of the city’s deadliest blazes reached 128, and many remain unaccounted for.
Some 200 people remain unaccounted for, Secretary for Security Chris Tang told reporters. And this includes 89 bodies that have not yet been identified.
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Authorities told the AP that more bodies might be recovered, although some fire crews have finished a search for anyone living trapped inside. Approximately 12 firefighters were among the 79 people injured, Andy Yeung, the director of Hong Kong Fire Services told the AP. And one firefighter was also killed, Yeung previously told reporters.
Fire crews searched apartments on Friday, where they received emergency calls during the massive fire but were unable to get to them in the hours when the fire burned out of control, Derek Armstrong Chan, a deputy director of Hong Kong Fire Services, told reporters.
Initial investigations reveal that the high-rise fire started on a lower-level scaffolding net of one of the buildings, and then spread rapidly as the foam panels caught fire, said Tang, the secretary for security.
According to the AP, it took firefighters 24 hours to manage the fire, and it was not fully extinguished until Friday morning.
8 arrested in connection to the deadly high-rise fire
Local perspective:
On Friday, police arrested seven men and one woman, including scaffolding subcontractors, directors of an engineering consultant company and project managers supervising the renovation, the Associated Press reported, citing a statement from the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Separately, authorities told the AP on Thursday that three men — the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company — were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, with police adding that company leaders were suspected of gross negligence.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by the Associated Press, which cites comments from a fire official about the Hong Kong high-rise blaze. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.