At least 128 people died and 200 remain missing after the towers housing 4,600 people were engulfed by flames.By News AgenciesPublished On 29 Nov 202529 Nov 2025Click here to share on social mediashare2SharePeople in Hong Kong are mourning the deaths of at least 128 people who died in the region’s largest blaze in decades in an eight-apartment residential complex.The flags outside the central government offices were lowered to half-mast on Saturday as Hong Kong leader John Lee, other officials and civil servants, all dressed in black, gathered to pay their respects to those lost at the Wang Fuk Court estate since the fire on Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listCondolence books have been set up at 18 points around the former British colony for the public to pay their respects, officials said.At the site of the residential complex, families and mourners gathered to lay flowers.By Friday, only 39 of the victims had been identified, leaving families with the morbid task of looking at the photographs of the deceased taken by rescue workers.The number of victims could still dramatically rise as some 200 people remain missing, with authorities declaring the end of the search for survivors on Friday.But identification work and search for remains continues, as Lee said the government is setting up a fund with 300 million Hong Kong dollars ($39m) in capital to help the residents.The local community is also pitching in, with hundreds of volunteers mobilising to help the victims, including by distributing food and other essential items. Some of China’s biggest companies have pledged donations as well.The Wang Fuk Court fire marks Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948, when 176 people died in a warehouse blaze. Officers from the Disaster Victim Identification Unit gather by the Wang Fuk Court estate [AFP]At least 11 people have been arrested in connection with the tragedy, according to local authorities. Advertisement They include two directors and an engineering consultant of the firm identified by the government as doing maintenance on the towers for more than a year, who are accused of manslaughter for using unsafe materials.The towers, located in the northern district of Tai Po, were undergoing renovations, with the high …
