Deadly Wang Fuk Court fire ‘most likely’ caused by smoking, public inquiry hears

2026-03-19 - 11:42

The massive blaze at a Tai Po housing estate in November was “most likely” caused by smoking, a public inquiry has heard, as a committee investigating the fatal disaster began hearing evidence on Thursday. A fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on the morning of November 27, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The independent committee tasked with investigating the Wang Fuk Court fire also heard that firefighter Ho Wai-ho, who died in the line of duty on November 26, likely fell to his death as a “chimney effect” sent flames raging up through the building blocks. Thursday marked the first day of the public hearing into the blaze, which killed 168 people and displaced thousands living in the Tai Po residential complex. It was the city’s deadliest fire in nearly eight decades. The inquiry is expected to disclose photos, videos, documents, testimonies, and previously undisclosed internal communication records among the contractors responsible for a major repair work at the estate. Senior Counsel Victor Dawes, the lead lawyer for the independent committee, said in his opening statement that “human errors” had contributed to the huge life loss. “Based on the available information, it appears all the life-saving fire-safety measures were not functioning due to human errors,” Dawes said in Cantonese at the hearing, held at the City Gallery in Central. Wang Fuk Court was undergoing major renovation when the blaze broke out. The fire alarm in the seven blocks engulfed in flames had been disabled, Dawes said, while windows at the fire exit stairs had been turned into temporary “entry points” for construction workers to exit the buildings onto bamboo scaffolding. Smoking: most likely cause Evidence suggests the fire began in a lightwell outside the first floor of Wang Cheong House and was discovered by workers shortly before 2.45pm on November 26. Senior Counsel Victor Dawes. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Ground-floor CCTV footage showed smoke and ashes as early as 2.33pm. In another clip, workers on the scaffolding outside the fifth floor could be heard alerting others about a fire and asking if someone had been smoking. “An inter-departmental investigation team has concluded that it was most likely that someone lit a cigarette, which set flammable items stacked at the lightwell ablaze,” Dawes said. Police officers found a large amount of charred cardboard, plastic bottles, utensils, and cigarette stubs beneath the debris at the lightwell, he added. While there was no direct evidence of someone discarding a cigarette at the lightwell on that day, there was evidence that workers had been smoking during the repair work, Dawes said. A clip showing workers smoking on the rooftop of one Wang Fuk Court building on November 26 was played during the hearing, with Dawes pointing out that residents had long complained about the issue to contractors and authorities. The inter-departmental team also excluded the possibility of a gas leak or electrical fault causing the fire due to a lack of evidence, the lawyer said. Final moments of Ho Wai-ho Dawes also detailed the final mission of firefighter Ho, 37, dispatched from the Sha Tin Fire Station. Ho was among the first responders and was assigned to a rescue mission with two colleagues on the 27th floor of Wang Cheong House, the first building that caught fire. Hongkongers pay tribute to firefighter Ho Wai-ho at Sha Tin Fire Station on December 2, 2025. The 37-year-old fireman died in the line of duty on November 26, 2025, when the blaze broke out at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. But footage showed Ho entering the adjacent Wang Tai House alone at 3.15pm. A camera inside the elevator caught him going up to the 25th floor, where he exited. Dawes said it was likely that Ho entered the wrong building without realising, due to the “chaotic” situation at that time. At 3.22pm, seven minutes after he was last seen on camera, Ho radioed: “Mayday, mayday, mayday. I am trapped on the 30th floor.” At 3.55pm, he was discovered on the ground outside Wang Tai House without his left glove, left boot, oxygen mask, and a hammer. He was rushed to hospital and later pronounced dead. Officers later found his glove and mask in the lift hall on the 31st floor, with an autopsy showing carbon monoxide inhalation and multiple burns and bone fractures. “The most likely scenario was that... Ho arrived at the 31st floor, broke the window and sought to exit there before falling to his death,” Dawes said. At the beginning of the hearing on Thursday, the committee chairperson, Judge David Lok, said the inquiry would be conducted in an “open, fair, and impartial” manner. Witness arrangements and schedules will be announced as the hearing unfolds, Lok added.