Firefighters work to extinguish a fire that broke out at Wan Fook Court, a residential complex in the Tai Po area of Hong Kong's New Territories, Wednesday, November 26, 2025.
Chan Long Hay/AP
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Chan Long Hay/AP
A fire has spread to seven high-rise apartment buildings in a Hong Kong residential complex, killing 13 people and leaving others trapped, the city's fire brigade said on Wednesday.
Nine people were pronounced dead at the scene and four others who were taken to hospital were later pronounced dead, authorities told reporters. At least 15 people were injured, and about 700 people were evacuated to temporary shelters.
Smoke rises after a fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential complex in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong's New Territories, on Wednesday, November 26, 2025.
Chan Long Hay/AP
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Chan Long Hay/AP
The raging fire sent up a column of flames and thick smoke and quickly spread through bamboo scaffolding and a construction net installed around the outside of a housing complex in the Tai Po district of the New Territories. According to records, the residential complex consisted of eight blocks containing almost 2,000 apartments, housing approximately 4,800 people.
Video from the scene shows several buildings located next to each other burning, and as night falls, bright flames and smoke come out of the windows of many apartments. Authorities said hundreds of firefighters, police and paramedics were deployed, and video showed firefighters pouring water onto the intense flames from the heights of ladder trucks.
The fire started in the afternoon and as darkness fell, authorities raised the alert level to Level 5, the highest level of severity, the Fire Department said. The fire continued to burn late into the night and authorities said conditions remained very difficult for firefighters.
Flames engulf the building.
Chan Long Hay/AP
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Chan Long Hay/AP
“Debris and scaffolding from the affected buildings are falling,” said Derek Armstrong Chen, deputy director of the fire service (operations). “The temperature inside the respective buildings is very high. It is difficult for us to enter the building and go upstairs for firefighting and rescue operations.”
It was not immediately known what caused the fire. Officials said the fire started on the exterior scaffolding of one of the buildings and then spread to the interior of the building as well as nearby neighborhoods, likely aided by windy conditions. The department said it had received “numerous” calls asking for help, and some residents remained trapped as of Wednesday evening local time.
128 fire engines and 57 ambulances arrived at the scene of the fire.
One firefighter was among the dead and another was being treated for heat exhaustion, fire director Andy Young told reporters.
Lo Hiu-fung, a member of the Tai Po District Council, told local broadcaster TVB earlier on Wednesday that most of the residents caught in the fire were believed to be elderly.
Tai Po district authorities have opened temporary shelters for people left homeless by the fire.
“I stopped thinking about my property,” a resident who gave only his last name, Wu, told TVB. “Watching it burn was very frustrating.”
Tai Po is a suburban area of the New Territories, in the northern part of Hong Kong, near the border with the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong's building construction and renovation projects, although earlier this year the government said it would begin phasing them out of public projects due to safety concerns.
