Published: 4:44pm, 26 Nov 2025Updated: 7:58pm, 26 Nov 2025
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Twelve people including a firefighter have been killed and at least 16 others are critically injured in a fiery blaze ravaging Hong Kong’s Tai Po neighbourhood, as flames lash over bamboo scaffolding across all eight blocks of a housing estate with multiple other residents trapped inside.
The other 11 who were killed were eight women and three men, according to sources.
Huge plumes of dark smoke billowed high into the sky at the scene at Wang Fuk Court on Wednesday, with the flames quickly spreading to at least four blocks in the estate and later the entire cluster.
Police said on Wednesday that they had received multiple reports of people trapped in a building where the blaze started, with a man and a woman reportedly unconscious and suffering from burns.
The blaze was initially classified as a No 1 alarm fire but was quickly raised to No 4 by 3.34pm and then to the top-level No 5 at 6.22pm. In Hong Kong, fires are rated on a scale of one to five, with higher numbers indicating greater severity.
Footage from the scene shows bamboo scaffolding outside several flats of the building engulfed in flames, with burning sections of green scaffolding mesh falling to the ground.
Follow our live updates on the fire below.
Reporting by Lo Hoi-ying, Vivian Au, Leopold Chen, Jess Ma, Jeffie Lam, Matthew Cheng, Danny Mok and Fiona Sun.