Some Wang Fuk Court residents to participate as involved parties in fire probe hearings

2026-03-13 - 13:25

Some Wang Fuk Court residents, including former members of the defunct owners’ corporation, will participate as involved parties in the upcoming probe hearings on the deadly Tai Po fire, HKFP has learned. Judge David Lok (centre), chair of the independent committee investigating the Wang Fuk Court fire, on February 5, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The independent committee tasked to investigate the inferno had accepted the applications from two groups of residents to participate in the hearings as involved parties, represented by their lawyers, three sources familiar with the matter told HKFP on Friday. According to the committee’s rules of procedure, the residents will be allowed to make opening and closing statements, ask questions and call witnesses in the hearings. One of the groups consists of former members of the defunct owners’ corporation of Wang Fuk Court. In response to HKFP’s enquiry, the independent committee said it would announce the list of involved parties “in due course.” Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee ordered the establishment of an independent committee to investigate the fire at Wang Fuk Court, a government-subsidised housing estate in Tai Po, in late November. The blaze – the city’s deadliest in nearly eight decades – killed 168 people and displaced thousands of residents. The committee, chaired by Judge David Lok, has one solicitor and five barristers, including Senior Counsel Victor Dawes, as part of its legal team. In early February, residents attended the independent committee’s first public meeting, calling for accountability and fair compensation. The independent committee is scheduled to hold a total of eight hearings from March 19 to April 2. It will first hear opening remarks from its legal team, followed by testimonies from involved parties. People watch smoke coming from Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on November 27, 2025, a day after the fire broke out at the housing estate. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The independent committee is not a commission of inquiry, governed by the Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance. Critics have pointed out that it lacks statutory power, but pro-establishment lawmakers have defended it, saying the committee can complete its work quickly without the burdens of legal procedures. The government said the committee would complete the probe in nine months.