Tai Po fire timeline: Wang Fuk Court’s HK$330 million renovation, ignored warnings and aftermath

The fire that broke out at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court on November 26 has become Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in almost eight decades – but it may have been long in the making.

At least 160 people were killed, according to the latest official figures released on December 9, while six are still unaccounted for.

Charred buildings of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on November 28, 2025, after the worst blaze in Hong Kong in decades. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The disaster brought to light a controversial renovation project dating back to 2016, raising questions about alleged corruption and bid-rigging in Hong Kong’s building renovation industry, as well as the adequacy of safety oversight.

Wang Fuk Court was completed in 1983 under the Home Ownership Scheme – Hong Kong’s subsidised housing programme. The estate consists of eight blocks, each 31 storeys high. It contained nearly 2,000 flats – home to more than 4,600 residents, according to 2021 census data.

Like many housing estates in Hong Kong, Wang Fuk Court is managed by an owners’ corporation. The entire renovation project – from inspection to tender to construction – was overseen by committees of the owners’ corporation.

Mourners gathered to remember the victims of the Wang Fuk Court fire on December 1, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

After the blaze, it was also revealed that during the renovation project, residents had filed complaints with the authorities, from the Labour Department to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Multiple government visits to the estate – with the most recent one taking place a week before the fire – failed to prevent the tragedy.

Over a dozen people have been arrested in connection with the fire. Among them are executives from two companies responsible for the work: Prestige Construction & Engineering Company – the contractor for the renovation – and Will Power Architects Company Limited – the consultancy firm overseeing the project.

HKFP reconstructs the timeline leading up to the fire and its aftermath, based on publicly available records.

From 2016 to early 2024

In 2016, as Wang Fuk Court entered its 33rd year, the Hong Kong government issued an order under the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme to the owners’ corporation committee of the housing estate.

Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court in 2009. File photo: Wikicommons.

Under the scheme, upon receiving the order, owners of buildings aged 30 years or above must appoint a registered inspector to check their structures for necessary repairs and follow up with renovation.

In September 2018, homeowners decided to invite bids from the city’s registered inspectors to carry out the checks. In January 2019, Will Power Architects was awarded the project.

By October 2019, the consultancy firm had completed the inspection, identifying defects and cracks in the towers’ concrete that warranted further repairs.

In December 2021, Will Power Architects was again chosen by Wang Fuk Court homeowners to supervise the repair work that the firm had deemed necessary.

Throughout 2022, Will Power Architects re-examined the estate, drafted a tender document for the project, and consulted Wang Fuk Court’s homeowners.

This photo shows a presentation given by Will Power Architects Company to residents of Wang Fuk Court in late 2023, as the firm demonstrated damaged concrete found in the estate. Photo: Screenshot.

In early 2023, Will Power Architects proposed three renovation plans for owners to choose from, including one that would require a full refurbishment of the buildings’ exteriors, which came with an estimated price tag of HK$300 million.

In January 2024, a total of 595 people — homeowners and their authorised representatives — attended a meeting to vote on the renovation plan. They represented 30 per cent of all property shareholders at Wang Fuk Court.

They picked the most extensive – and most expensive – plan and chose Prestige Construction as the contractor.

Meanwhile, the total estimated cost for the project had ballooned to HK$330 million. On average, each household needed to pay between HK$160,000 and HK$180,000.

The renovation project, with its high price tag, eventually grew deeply unpopular among Wang Fuk Court residents and drew questions about why it was approved in the first place. Some residents took to the media, saying the per-household cost was unaffordable and hastily collected.

Bloomberg reported that, in early 2024, a group of Wang Fuk Court residents filed a corruption complaint about the renovation project with the ICAC. The anti-graft agency told the news outlet that it was not appropriate to comment due to the ongoing investigation.

Mid-2024 to mid-November 2025

In July 2024, the renovation project began, and Prestige Construction installed bamboo scaffolding and protective netting around the buildings.

During a project briefing for residents on July 17, 2024, Prestige Construction said foam boards would be used to cover windows to protect them from debris during the renovation.

This photo shows a PowerPoint slide used in a project briefing given by Prestige Construction to residents of Wang Fuk Court on July 17, 2024. The slide mentioned that foam boards would be used to cover windows during a renovation project. Photo: Screenshot.

Residents soon complained about possible fire hazards at the construction site in a Facebook group for Wang Fuk Court.

In August 2024, a photo showing a cigarette butt on the exterior wall of an estate block was uploaded to the Facebook group. The user who posted the photo urged Prestige Construction to strengthen supervision of its workers.

In September 2024, another user posted two photos that appeared to show a burning foam board, saying the boards used by Prestige Construction to cover windows at Wang Fuk Court were flammable.

In the same month, residents convened a meeting to oust the previous owners’ committee, which had overseen the tender, and elected a new one.

A resident also wrote to the Labour Department, which is in charge of workplace safety, to complain about the renovation project, including the protective netting used by Prestige Construction.

In an email reply to HKFP’s enquiries, the Labour Department said it had responded to the complaints twice in October and December 2024.

At the time, the department said that the renovation did not require “hot work” – tasks that generate flames, sparks or heat – on the scaffolding and the netting had met fire-retardant standards.

Hong Kong’s Labour Department. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

In October 2024, Prestige Construction submitted a test report to the Independent Checking Unit (ICU) under the Housing Bureau, which “did not identify any non-compliance issues [with] the fire-retardant requirements,” according to a government statement issued on November 28 this year.

In November 2024, officers of the ICU visited Wang Fuk Court to observe how Will Power Architects and Prestige Construction carried out on-site sampling of the netting for a burn test. The officers found “no combustible” features.

Between July 2024 and November 2025, the Labour Department inspected Wang Fuk Court 16 times, issuing six notices “urging improvement” and initiating three prosecutions against Prestige Construction and one of its subcontractors. Both companies were found guilty of failing to meet construction site safety regulations and fined up to HK$18,000.

The last inspection took place on November 20, six days before the blaze.

November 26-28: Fire at Wang Fuk Court

At 2.51pm on November 26, the Fire Services Department (FSD) was alerted to a fire at Wang Fuk Court.

The FSD raised the fire alarm to No. 3 at 3.02pm, to No. 4 at 3.34pm, and to No.5 – the highest alarm – at 6.22pm.

A deadly fire rips through residential buildings at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court on November 26, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Firefighter Ho Wai-ho of Sha Tin Fire Station went missing after he was dispatched to Wang Fuk Court. He was found with burns on his face outside one of the towers at 4.01pm.

At 4.45pm, he was declared dead at the hospital.

At around 5pm, authorities announced the initial death toll at four, with five injured.

At around 8.30pm, the death toll had risen to 13. Seven of the estate’s eight towers were ablaze.

Rescue operations continued overnight as authorities opened temporary shelters for displaced residents. China’s President Xi Jinping expressed condolences to the victims and called on authorities to make every effort to extinguish the fire.

On November 27, in the early morning, Chief Executive John Lee said 36 people had been killed and 279 were missing.

Police arrested three men – two directors and an engineering consultant of Prestige Construction – on suspicion of manslaughter.

By around 3pm, the death toll had risen to 55, as the blaze in three blocks came “under control.”

On November 28, firefighters largely extinguished the flames at 10.18am, more than 43 hours after the fire erupted. That day, the death toll climbed to 128, with 200 people still missing.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang said preliminary laboratory tests found that the netting used to cover the scaffolding at Wang Fuk Court met fire-resistance standards, but the foam boards attached to the buildings’ windows were highly flammable.

University student Miles Kwan launched an online petition calling for government accountability and systemic reform and distributed flyers at Tai Po MTR Station.

Eight people – including two directors of Will Power Architects – were arrested by the ICAC on suspicion of corruption linked to the renovation project.

Charred buildings of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on November 28, 2025, after the worst blaze in Hong Kong in decades.

Separately, the Prestige Construction trio were granted bail pending police investigation but arrested again – this time by the ICAC.

Aftermath

On November 29, Hong Kong began a three-day mourning period.

On the same day, Kwan was reportedly arrested by national security police on suspicion of sedition.

On December 1, police said 13 people had been arrested for alleged manslaughter after unsafe netting that failed to meet fire-retardant standards was found on the buildings.

The ICAC said it had arrested 12 people – 11 of whom were also police suspects.

Tang told reporters that seven of 20 samples of construction netting collected by police from Wang Fuk Court did not pass fire safety tests, and that police believed the substandard netting and protective foam boards had caused the rapid spread of the fire.

On December 2, Chief Executive Lee said the fire had shown “systemic issues” in Hong Kong’s building works, including “inappropriate[ly] connected interests, conflicts of roles and corrupt collusion.”

Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on December 10, 2025. Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP.

Lee said authorities would establish an independent review committee, led by a judge, to investigate the fire.

That day, a press conference about Hong Kong’s building maintenance policy, to be held by a group of civil society leaders, was suddenly cancelled. One of the speakers – solicitor Bruce Liu – was reportedly taken in by national security police for questioning.

On December 12, Lee announced that High Court Judge David Lok would lead the committee, with a report due in nine months.

The committee will be given autonomy and flexibility – including potentially becoming a statutory commission of inquiry if necessary – to probe a raft of systemic issues in the wake of the fire, the chief executive said.