Hong Kong began three days of official mourning on Saturday, with residents and officials gathering across the city to pay tribute to the 128 people who lost their lives in the devastating fire that tore through Wang Fuk Court earlier this week.

Chief Executive John Lee led a three-minute silence outside government headquarters alongside senior officials and civil servants, as the Chinese and Hong Kong flags flew at half-mast. Across the city, people brought flowers and handwritten notes to the scorched housing estate, where a sign left by one mourner read, "May your spirits in heaven always keep the joy alive."

【特區政府舉行悼念活動】11月29日上午，香港特區行政長官李家超、特區政府主要官員和公務員等在政府總部舉行悼念活動，哀悼大埔宏福苑火災中不幸罹難的人士。特區政府建築物國旗和區旗下半旗。#XiJinping #HongKongFire @xuejianosaka @MFA_China @bbcchinese @USA_China_Talk @VOAChinese https://t.co/1XjXGDLodL pic.twitter.com/41QedhaJIu

— 十面埋伏（🔙💯，定期清理） (@shimianmaifu25) November 29, 2025

Deadly inferno

The residential complex in Tai Po burned for more than 40 hours, leaving families scrambling through hospitals and disaster-identification centers to locate missing relatives. Nearly 200 people remain unaccounted for, while authorities say 89 bodies have yet to be identified.

Emergency shelters have been set up for hundreds of displaced residents, and community volunteers have mobilized supply stations offering food, clothes, psychological support, and basic necessities. Organizers later asked the public to pause donations after their improvised relief network became overwhelmed.

取材途中に通った路地で、火災被災者への支援物資をバケツリレー方式で運ぶ若者たちを見つけました。自然発生的に始まり、インスタなどで知って続々と。

香港人の結束は聞いていましたが、実際に目の当たりにして実感。

市民のボランティア活発に　「香港人なら自然に動く」https://t.co/YfchQWQxaU pic.twitter.com/Vqg6v5CxR6

— 林哲平（台北特派員）Teppei HAYASHI (@hwhayashite) November 28, 2025

Meanwhile, the investigation into the blaze continues. The city’s anti-corruption agency detained eight people on Friday, including consultants, scaffolding subcontractors, and what officials described as a middleman involved in the project. Police also arrested three men earlier on suspicion of negligently leaving foam packaging at the site.

Safety collapse

Preliminary findings indicate the fire likely began on protective netting on a lower floor before rapidly spreading through "highly flammable" foam boards and bamboo scaffolding. Fire services chief Andy Yeung said all eight towers had malfunctioning alarm systems, warning that the authorities "discovered that alarm systems in all eight apartment blocks were malfunctioning" and pledged accountability from contractors.

Residents told AFP they never heard alarms and had to alert neighbors themselves. One man, identified only as Fung, said he has been returning to the estate daily searching for his 80-year-old mother-in-law. "She is on antibiotics ... so she is always sleeping. There was no fire alarm, so she might not have known there was a fire," he said.

Security chief Chris Tang warned that the death toll could rise further, saying investigators "do not rule out the possibility that police will find more charred remains when entering [the building] for detailed investigation and evidence collection."

Families searching

A 38-year-old woman surnamed Wong said she still has no information about her sister-in-law and her sister-in-law’s twin despite checking multiple hospitals: "We still cannot find them... So we are going to different hospitals to ask if they have good news."

An elderly eyewitness described to AFP how fast the flames surged between buildings: "One building went up in flames, and it spread to two more blocks in less than 15 minutes... It was burning red, I shudder to think about it."

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