A hearth spread across seven high-rise apartment buildings in a Hong Kong housing complex, killing 13 people and leaving others still trapped, town’s fire services said Wednesday.
Nine people were declared dead on the scene and 4 others who were sent to the hospital were later confirmed dead, authorities told reporters. No less than 15 others were injured, and about 700 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters.
The raging fire sent up a column of flames and thick smoke because it spread quickly on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting that had been arrange around the outside of the housing complex in Tai Po district, within the Latest Territories. Records show the housing complex consisted of eight blocks with almost 2,000 apartments housing about 4,800 people.
Firefighters attempt to extinguish a flames engulfing a constructing after a fireplace broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate within the Tai Po district of Hong Kong’s Latest Territories, Wednesday, Nov. 26 2025.
AP Photo/Chan Long Hei
Video from the scene showed multiple buildings close to one another ablaze, with vibrant flames and smoke shooting out of most of the apartments’ windows as night fell. Authorities said a whole bunch of firefighters, cops and paramedics were deployed, and video showed firefighters aiming water at the extraordinary flames from high up on ladder trucks.
The blaze began mid-afternoon and after nightfall authorities upgraded it to a level 5 alarm, the best level of severity, the Fire Services Department said. The hearth was still raging late into the night, and authorities said conditions remained very difficult for firefighters.
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“Debris and scaffolding of the affected buildings are falling down,” said Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fire Services (Operations). “The temperature contained in the buildings concerned (is) very high. It’s difficult for us to enter the constructing and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations.”
Flames engulf a constructing after a fireplace broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate within the Tai Po district of Hong Kong’s Latest Territories, Wednesday, Nov. 26 2025.
AP Photo/Chan Long Hei
It was not immediately known what caused the fireplace. Officials said the fireplace began on the external scaffolding of one among the buildings and later spread to contained in the constructing and likewise to nearby blocks, likely aided by windy conditions. The department said it received “quite a few” calls requesting assistance and a few residents remained trapped as of Wednesday night local time.
Firefighters deployed 128 fire trucks and 57 ambulances to the scene.
The dead included one firefighter and one other was being treated for warmth exhaustion, Fire Services Department Director Andy Yeung told reporters.
Lo Hiu-fung, a Taipo District Council member, told local TV station TVB earlier Wednesday that almost all of the residents trapped in the fireplace were believed to be elderly people.
District officials in Tai Po have opened temporary shelters for people left homeless by the fireplace.
The hearth at Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po District, began Wednesday afternoon local time.
Will Jarrett/AP
“I’ve given up interested by my property,” a resident who only provided his surname, Wu, told TVB. “Watching it burn like that was really frustrating.”
Tai Po is a suburban area within the Latest Territories, within the northern a part of Hong Kong and near the border with the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Bamboo scaffolding is a typical sight in Hong Kong at constructing construction and renovation projects, though the federal government said earlier this 12 months that it could start phasing it out for public projects due to safety concerns.
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Moritsugu reported from Beijing.
© 2025 The Canadian Press