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Eight more arrested over deadly Hong Kong blaze as toll rises to 128 with hundreds still missing

By CNN

Published November 28, 2025 9:48 am

CNN

By Chris Lau, Samra Zulfaqar, Fred He and Helen Regan, CNN

Hong Kong (CNN) — The number of people killed in the devastating Hong Kong apartment complex fire has risen to 128 with as many as 200 missing, officials said Friday, as authorities announced eight more arrests over the blaze.

The inferno rapidly spread in a public housing estate in the city’s Tai Po neighborhood on Wednesday, trapping people inside. With authorities warning the toll will likely rise further, focus is turning to what caused the territory’s worst fire in decades.

Fire alarms in all eight buildings of the complex were “not functional,” officials found during inspections carried out after the blaze, according to Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung. It was not clear if the alarm system was operational on the day of the fire, though residents previously told CNN their building alarm did not ring.

“On this, we will take law enforcement action,” Yeung said.

Eight people were arrested on Friday as part of ongoing investigations, the city’s anti-corruption body, including two directors of a consultancy firm that was advising on maintenance works at the complex, two project managers responsible for supervising the works, three scaffolding subcontractors and an intermediary.

Three men working for a construction company were also arrested earlier this week on suspicion of “gross negligence,” officials said Thursday morning local time.

The blaze has sent shock waves through the skyscraper-filled city, which has a usually strong public safety record and construction standards.

Displaced residents and survivors, many of whom faced a third night in temporary shelters on Friday, are asking how such a disaster could happen, while others were waiting in desperation to hear whether their missing loved ones are among those killed.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined and a police investigation into why the blaze quickly spread from building to building, turning a single tower block fire into multiple simultaneous multi-story infernos, is expected to take three to four weeks, he said.

The families of those who died in the fire will receive HK$200,000 (roughly $25,700 USD) from the government, Alice Mak, Hong Kong’s secretary for home and youth affairs, said Friday.

Households affected by the fire will also receive HK$50,000 (around $6,400 USD) living allowance in the upcoming week, she said.

Authorities believe the initial blaze started on the lower floors of Wang Cheong House, Block 6 of eight towers that make up Wang Fuk Court, a tightly packed complex that was home to more than 4,000 people, many of them elderly.

Wang Fuk Court was undergoing renovations at the time of the fire, and all eight towers were wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green protective meshing. Police previously found the construction company name on flammable polystyrene boards that firefighters found blocking some windows at the apartment complex.

“It ignited the mesh nets (and) quickly spread to the polystyrene boards around the windows, resulting in the fire in other floors and buildings,” Hong Kong’s Secretary for Security Chris Tang said.

“After the polystyrene caught fire, the high temperature caused windows to shatter, causing the fire to spread indoors.”

As the mesh nets and bamboo scaffolding caught fire and fell, it spread the fire to other floors, Tang said. Firefighters and residents faced extreme conditions inside the building, with temperatures reaching above 500 degrees Celsius (930 degrees Fahrenheit), he added.

Tang said the mesh nets did comply with safety standards.

Among the 16 inspections the Labor Department had conducted on the buildings’ maintenance works since last year, the most recent one took place less than a week before the blaze broke out, Chris Sun, Hong Kong’s secretary for labor and welfare, told the media on Friday.

Sun said the last inspection was conducted because of one complaint that some workers were smoking.

“At the time, a written reminder was issued regarding fire safety, instructing the contractor to strengthen its fire-prevention measures,” he said.

Fire rescue efforts were further complicated as some units inside the buildings reignited, even after their flames had been extinguished by firefighters.

Hong Kong’s labor department is working with the city’s Indonesian and Philippine consulates to help them in assisting foreign domestic helpers who lived in the building, Sun said. These workers are usually required by their contracts to live in the same residence as their employer.

Those who died in the fire will be identified and their bodies will be repatriated, he said, while “special arrangements” are being made to rehome foreign domestic workers who were survivors of the disaster, he added.

CNN’s Catherine Nicholls contributed to this report.