Hong Kong Towers' Fire Alarms 'Didn't Work Properly,' Toll 128

Rescue operations in Hong Kong at the scene of the city’s worst fire in nearly 80 years have ended, authorities said on Friday.

They said the death toll now stands at 128, with about 200 other residents from Wang Fuk Court – a housing complex with eight 32-storey towers – still missing.

The fire in the northern district of Tai Po started on Wednesday afternoon and rapidly engulfed seven of the eight towers.

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“We do not rule out the possibility that more bodies could be discovered when police enter the building for detailed investigations,” Hong Kong Security Chief Chris Tang told a press conference.

Tang also said fire alarms in the complex had not been working properly.

Towers covered in flammable green mesh

Rescue efforts had now been concluded and at least 79 people, including 12 firefighters were injured, he said.

“Our aim now is to make sure the temperature decreases in the building and once everything is deemed safe, police will collect evidence and conduct further investigation,” Tang said.

The estate, housing more than 4,600 people, had been wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green mesh for renovation work.

On Friday, mourners laid flower tributes in front of the charred and smouldering buildings, while distressed residents surveyed the remains of their homes.

“This is my home. Look over there, the 10th floor, that’s where my home was. By the hills, that’s where my home used to be,” one resident, identified only as Miss Yu, said.

“I really want to go back home, but my home is probably gone now. They won’t let us go back, so when I look in that direction, my heart feels so heavy.”

Less than a third of the dead identified

Families, meanwhile, had the grim task of looking at photographs of the dead taken by rescue workers. Security Chief Tang said only 39 of the 128 dead had been identified.

Mirra Wong, whose parents were living in Wang Fuk Court, was looking for news of her father.

“Just recognise some picture is maybe (the) body of my dad. It’s my dad’s body is still missing here,” said Wong, 48.

Another resident, who did not want to be identified, said a friend’s wife was among those unaccounted for.

“Rationally speaking, it means there’s no hope,” she said. “But the bodies still have to be found, right? Let me see if they’ve found them … It’s just too sorrowful. When it involves people you know, it’s even more painful.”

Directors arrested; repeated complaints on fire risk

Hundreds of volunteers have mobilised to help the victims, sorting and distributing items from diapers to hot food.

They formed teams to collect, transport and distribute goods in round-the-clock shifts and have set up a sprawling support camp for displaced residents beside a shopping mall across from the fire-damaged Wang Fuk complex.

“This is real civil participation,” said 22-year-old Helena who was coordinating volunteers, and gave only one name.

The fire is Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948, when 176 people died in a warehouse blaze, and has prompted comparisons to London’s Grenfell Tower inferno, which killed 72 people in 2017.

Residents of the housing complex were told by authorities last year that they faced “relatively low fire risks” after complaining repeatedly about fire hazards posed by ongoing renovation works, the city’s Labour Department told Reuters.

The residents had raised concerns over the renovations in September 2024, including about the potential flammability of the protective green mesh contractors had used to cover the bamboo scaffolding erected around the buildings, a department spokesperson said in an email.

Police on Thursday arrested two directors and an engineering consultant of Prestige Construction, a firm identified by the government as doing maintenance on Wang Fuk Court for more than a year on suspicion of manslaughter for using unsafe materials, including flammable foam boards blocking windows.

Prestige did not answer repeated calls for comment.

The city’s development bureau had also discussed gradually replacing bamboo scaffolding with metal scaffolding as a safety measure, although most of the bamboo did not catch alight.

19 Filipino domestic workers missing

Dozens of domestic workers from the Philippines had been caught up in the disaster and 19 were still missing, said Edwina Antonio, executive director at migrant women refuge association Bethune House.

Indonesia’s consulate said two of the dead were its nationals also working as domestic helpers. Hong Kong has around 368,000 domestic workers, mostly women from low-income Asian countries who live with their employers.

Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, said the government would set up a HK$300 million ($39 million) fund to help residents, while some of China’s biggest listed companies announced donations.

Hong Kong, one of the world’s most densely populated cities, is scattered with high-rise housing complexes. Its sky-high property prices have long been a trigger for discontent and analysts say the tragedy could stoke resentment towards authorities despite efforts to tighten political and national security control.

The leadership of both the Hong Kong government and China’s Communist Party moved quickly to show they attached utmost importance to a tragedy seen as a potential test of Beijing’s grip on the semi-autonomous region.