128 dead in Hong Kong tower inferno as officials probe bamboo scaffolding and safety lapses

 

Hong Kong is confronting its deadliest blaze in nearly eighty years after the death toll from the Wang Fuk Court inferno in Tai Po climbed to 128. Rescue teams retrieved more bodies from the burned-out high-rise estate, where flames swept through eight 32-storey towers encased in bamboo scaffolding. The catastrophe is now the city’s worst fire since 1948, when 176 people were killed in a warehouse disaster.

Construction officials arrested

Police have arrested three senior figures from Prestige Construction, two directors and an engineering consultant, on suspicion of manslaughter, Reuters reported. The firm had been renovating the estate for over a year.

Investigators said the placement of flammable foam boards over windows, combined with combustible materials along the exterior walls, allowed the fire to spread rapidly and across multiple blocks within minutes.

Bamboo scaffolding under scrutiny

The fire has reignited long-standing concerns over Hong Kong’s use of bamboo scaffolding, an age-old construction method still dominant across the city. According to AP, officials believe the blaze began on the bamboo structures outside one tower before spreading internally and leaping to six neighbouring blocks, aided by strong winds.

Search for survivors narrows

Emergency teams continued forcing open doors and combing through blackened units on Friday, responding to unresolved distress calls. At least 25 calls for help remained unaccounted for.

Outside a nearby community centre, families waited in silence as authorities displayed photographs taken inside the charred towers to help identify loved ones.

Authorities have not updated the number of missing since early Thursday, when a list of 279 untraced residents circulated widely.

Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers among the victims

Dozens of residents in the estate were migrant domestic workers. A Philippine support group said 19 Filipino workers were still missing. Indonesia’s consulate confirmed two of its nationals were among the dead.

Hong Kong hosts more than 368,000 domestic workers, mostly women from lower-income Asian nations who often live inside their employers’ homes.

Evacuees sleep in malls

Hundreds of displaced residents spent a second night camped inside a nearby shopping mall, opting for mattresses and tents instead of government shelters they believed should be reserved for those without any other options.
Elderly residents, schoolchildren and families rested outside fast-food counters as volunteers distributed meals and hygiene kits.

The tragedy has deepened anxiety in one of the world’s most crowded cities, where ageing towers, steep housing costs and patchwork maintenance systems often spark public frustration.

Government announces relief fund

Chief Executive John Lee announced a HK$300 million (US$39 million) relief fund for survivors and families of the victims. Several major Chinese companies have pledged to contribute.

Beijing has also stepped in, with central authorities signalling “utmost importance” to the tragedy — an early sign of concern over broader public confidence.