The fire services in Hong Kong reported on Wednesday, November 26, that a fire swept through seven high-rise apartment block buildings in a residential complex, killing 44 people and leaving 279 still missing.
Hong Kong High-Rise Fire Kills 36, Injures 15
Authorities confirmed that nine died on the scene and four went to the hospital and later were confirmed dead, reporters stated. At least 15 others were injured.
Approximately 700 individuals are evacuated to tent shelters.
This fire in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district killed at least 13 people (including a fire man). It’s raging out of control through 7 of 8 towers of this public housing development that’s home to more than 4,000 people#HongKong pic.twitter.com/vZvljZrclM
— Ivan Watson (@IvanCNN) November 26, 2025
The blaze gave off a column of smoke and flames and it was rapidly spreading on bamboo scaffolds and construction nets that had been assembled around the perimeter of the housing complex within Tai Po district in the New Territories.
It is recorded that the housing complex had eight blocks comprising nearly 2,000 apartments that contained approximately 4,800 residents.
There was a video of the scene, which depicted several buildings near each other on fire with bright flames and smoke being shot out of the windows of most of the apartments when the night fell. Firefighters were directing the blazing fire with water from high elevation ladder trucks.
It began in the middle of the afternoon, and in the evening, the authorities raised its level to a level 5 alarm, the most severe by the Fire Services Department. Even later in the night, the fire was still going.
The firefighters brought 128 fire trucks and 57 ambulances to the scene.
My deep condolences to the lives lost during the fiery blaze ravaging Hong Kong’s Tai Po neighbourhood today, including a firefighter🕯️ pic.twitter.com/nQU5jV8dtx
— George Chen (@george_chen) November 26, 2025
Tragedy in Hong Kong, Emergency Tents Set Up for Survivors
One of the firefighters died and the other was undergoing heat exhaustion treatment, which the director of the Fire Services Department Andy Yeung told reporters.
Earlier the police reported that they had been receiving numerous calls of trapped people in the affected buildings but it did not give any information.
A member of the Taipo District Council, Lo Hiu-fung informed local television station TVB earlier in the day on Wednesday that the majority of the people who were trapped in the fire were thought to be aged folk.
