Image source, something
After a four-month hearing, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China has made public the investigation report of the Independent Commission on fire at Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po. The fire in late November 2025 killed 168 people, including one firefighter.
The chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) , Li Jiachao, led a number of officials at a press conference on Thursday (October 29) . Li Jiachao and the other attending officials bowed for the first time to apologise for the incident, adding that“The political appointment team will bear political responsibility”, the Secretary for housing, he Yongxian, resigned on Wednesday (28 October) .
The report, released Thursday, is divided into two volumes, 16 chapters and more than 1,000 pages, some of which have been redacted in connection with the criminal trial. The report said the fire was“Most likely” caused by a cigarette and spread rapidly through non-fire-retardant netting on bamboo sheds and foamed plastic sheets on Windows.
At the news conference, Li was repeatedly asked why only one official was held politically responsible, and he only emphasized that the decision had been made taking into account a number of factors; one hongfuyuan resident commented in Chinese that an apology had come too late.
Image source, something something
Seven of the eight residential buildings in Hong Fuk Court were burned.
Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, located in the northeast of the New Territories, was completed in 1983. It has eight blocks with 31 storeys each, with a total of nearly 2000 flats and more than 4000 residents, it is a sale-type home ownership scheme public housing built by the British government.
Housing estate eight buildings, from east to west, the order is Wang Chi Court, Wang Sheng Court, Wang Chang Court, Wang Tai Court, Wang Jian Court, Wang Xin Court, Wang Dao Court and Wang Yan court.
Since 2024, it has been undergoing major renovations at a cost of HK $336 million (US $42,820 million; 289 million yuan; nt $1,409 million) . During the construction period, the property was covered in bamboo sheds and green nets.
On the afternoon of November 26,2025, the fire started on the first floor of Wang Cheong Court and spread to seven of the eight buildings in the estate within an hour, raised to level 5 of Hong Kong’s something-alarm fire classification system at night-just below the worst“Disaster level”.