HONG KONG — A massive blaze tore through several high-rise towers in Tai Po on Wednesday, leaving at least 14 people dead and injuring dozens as firefighters battled through choking smoke, falling debris, and unforgiving heat.
What began as a normal afternoon in the Wang Fuk Court residential complex turned into one of Hong Kong’s worst fires in nearly 30 years.
Thick black smoke rose like a wall into the sky.
Orange flames wrapped around the 32-storey buildings, climbing faster than rescuers could reach them.
And all around, terrified residents watched—crying, shouting, praying—as their homes were swallowed by fire.
“My wife is still inside…”
On a nearby walkway, 71-year-old Mr. Wong trembled, tears falling uncontrollably.
His wife was trapped inside one of the burning towers.
Dozens more stood beside him—some silent, others sobbing—as the fire raged upward through bamboo scaffolding and green construction mesh that had covered the towers for ongoing renovations.
This same scaffolding, made from bamboo, is something Hong Kong only recently began phasing out due to safety concerns.
Firefighters battled the blaze until nightfall
Fire crews received the first call at 2:51 p.m.
Within hours, the blaze had been raised to a No. 5 alarm—Hong Kong’s highest alert level.
By then, strong winds had already pushed the flames across seven of the complex’s eight residential blocks, home to more than 2,000 apartments.
The heat was unbearable.
The upper floors nearly impossible to reach.
Frames of bamboo scaffolding collapsed and slammed onto the streets below.
A firefighter was among the dead.
More than 16 injured residents were rushed to hospitals, while dozens of fire engines and ambulances lined the roads as chaos unfolded.
“I don’t know where I’ll sleep tonight.”
Harry Cheung, 66, had lived in Block Two for over four decades.
He heard “a very loud noise” at around 2:45 p.m. Moments later, he saw flames engulfing a nearby block.
“I ran back to pack some things,” he said, voice shaking. “I don’t even know how I feel. All I can think about is where I’m going to sleep tonight.”
With the blaze far from under control, residents were ordered to evacuate.
Entire sections of Tai Po Road, one of Hong Kong’s main highways, were shut down.
Buses were rerouted.
The area froze in fear.
Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades
The tragedy echoes the devastating 1996 Kowloon inferno, which killed 41 people and triggered sweeping reforms in fire safety standards across the city.
Yet Wednesday’s fire once again exposed the vulnerability of Hong Kong’s densely packed high-rises.
Bamboo scaffolding—still widely used despite being phased out—played a significant role in the spread of the flames.
Renovations had been ongoing at Wang Fuk Court for nearly a year, costing residents between HK$160,000 and HK$180,000 per unit.
The entire project totaled HK$330 million.
Now, much of that work is in ashes.
A tragedy in one of the world’s costliest cities
Wang Fuk Court is home to thousands under Hong Kong’s subsidized housing program.
For many, owning property here is the closest they will ever come to owning a home in a city where real estate is among the most expensive on earth.
But tonight, hundreds of families are displaced.
Dozens are injured.
Some are still unaccounted for.
And 14 lives—one of them a firefighter—are gone.
As fire crews continue to search the towers, Hong Kong is left mourning…
And waiting for answers about how such devastation spread so fast, and so violently, through the homes of thousands.
