Nearly 300 missing as fire continues to burn – DW – 11/27/2025

A massive fire has broken out in a residential complex in Hong Kong.

The complex consists of 2,000 residential units, in the city’s Tai Po district.

Ronson Chan Ron-Sing has more to offer.

Hong Kong police have arrested three people on suspicion of murder in connection with the fire.

These people worked for a construction company doing maintenance work in the housing estate.

Hong Kong Police Superintendent Eileen Chung said, “We have reason to believe that the responsible parties of the company acted with gross negligence, which led to this accident and the uncontrolled spread of the fire, resulting in a large number of casualties.”

Earlier, officials had said that an investigation into the fire would look at whether the materials on the housing estate’s external walls met fire resistance standards, pointing to the unusually rapid spread of the fire.

Fire service director Andy Yeung said officers found highly flammable foam sheets.

According to officials, the fire started on the outdoor scaffolding of a building, which later spread first inside the building and then to other buildings. Windy conditions likely helped the fire spread.

The death toll from a massive fire at a Hong Kong housing estate has risen to 44, the fire department said Thursday morning.

A department spokesman told a news conference that hundreds of people were still missing.

Hong Kong officials said the fire was eventually brought under control.

Since Wednesday afternoon, teams of firefighters have been attempting to extinguish the blaze at Wang Phuc Court, a residential complex made up of eight blocks in the Tai Po district in the city’s northeast.

The fire was still burning early Thursday, although officials say it has been brought under control.

The fire department said it received a report of a fire in a residential complex at 2:51 pm on Wednesday (6:51 pm GMT). At 3:34 pm it was upgraded to the number 4 alarm and as night fell, it was declared a five-alarm fire, the highest level.

Fire personnel deployed 128 fire engines and 57 ambulances at the scene.

Earlier, local media had reported that an unknown number of people were trapped in the 31-storey towers – which house about 2,000 residential apartments.

Lo Hiu-fung, a member of Taipo District Council, told local broadcaster TVB that most of the residents trapped in the fire were elderly people.

Bamboo scaffolding and construction netting has been installed on the exterior of many of the towers currently burning.

TVB reported that large-scale renovation work was underway at the complex.

Read our full report on when the fire broke out on Wednesday here.

Join us as officials in Hong Kong say a fire that has been burning for nearly a day is under control, although it is still burning.

At least 44 people have died in the devastating fire, while authorities have made three arrests. About 279 people are estimated to be missing.

Search and rescue efforts are underway, with reports suggesting that most of those trapped in the high-rise blocks are elderly citizens.

Stay tuned as we bring you the latest developments and reactions.