Death toll climbs to 146 as Hong Kong high-rise fire continues for days

Search and rescue teams in Hong Kong discovered 18 more bodies at the scene of a massive residential fire on November 30, bringing the death toll to 146, South China Morning Post cited a police spokesperson in its report.

The fire broke out on November 26 in the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Tai Po, located in Hong Kong’s New Territories. The complex consists of eight high-rise buildings, of which seven were engulfed in flames while one remained largely unaffected. 

Flames spread along bamboo scaffolding erected for cosmetic renovations. The complex houses nearly 2,000 apartments and around 4,000 residents.

This blaze is now the deadliest fire in a residential building in Hong Kong’s history. The previous deadliest residential fire occurred in 1996 at the Garley Building, which killed 41 people and injured 81.

Hong Kong has seen even deadlier fires historically, including the 1918 Happy Valley Racecourse disaster, which claimed over 600 lives after a temporary stand collapsed and caught fire, and a 1948 warehouse fire on Des Voeux Road West, which killed 176 people and injured 69 when cellulose film ignited and spread to nearby residences.

By Khagan Isayev