Hong Kong fire probe reveals unsafe netting as public mourns and
government stifles dissent
[December 01, 2025]
By CHAN HO-HIM and DAVID RISING
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong officials said Monday that their
investigation into a deadly blaze that killed at least 151 has revealed
some of the netting that covered scaffolding used in renovations was not
up to fire-safety codes, as a wave of public sympathy and support was
met by government moves to stifle criticism.
Wednesday’s blaze, which took until Friday to fully extinguish, started
on the lower-level netting covering bamboo scaffolding around one
building in the high-rise Wang Fuk Court complex. It then swept inside
as foam panels placed over windows caught fire and blew out the glass.
Winds carried flames from building to building that all were covered in
scaffolding and netting, until seven of eight were ablaze.
Initial tests of the netting showed it was up to code, but subsequently
investigators collected 20 samples from all areas, including higher
floors, and found seven failed safety standards, suggesting contractors
skimped to make greater profits, said Eric Chan, Hong Kong’s Chief
Secretary.
“They just wanted to make money at the expense of people’s lives,” he
told reporters.
Donations for survivors of the fire had reached 900 million Hong Kong
dollars (US$115 million) as of Monday, authorities said, as a steady
stream of people placed flowers, cards and other tributes at a makeshift
memorial near the burned out block of buildings.
“When something happens, we come out to help each other, ” said Loretta
Loh, after paying her regards at the site. “I have a heavy heart.”
Some 4,600 people lived in the Wang Fuk Court complex in the suburb of
Tai Po.
Hong Kong police Disaster Victim Identification Unit staff had searched
five of the burned buildings but only made partial progress through the
remaining two, said Tsang Shuk-yin, head of the police casualty enquiry
unit. Teams were assessing the safety of the other buildings, including
the one that caught fire first and suffered the worst damage.
On Monday they recovered another eight bodies, including three that
firefighters found earlier but could not retrieve. Dozens of people
remain unaccounted for, but some are likely among the 39 bodies not yet
identified, Tsang said.
“We will have to wait until we get through all seven blocks before we
can make a final report,” she said.
Private donations and 300 million Hong Kong dollars ($38.5 million) in
start-up capital from the government will be used to help victims
rebuild their homes and provide long--term support, local officials
said. The government has also given survivors cash subsidies to help
with expenses, including funerals, and is working to find them housing.
By Monday, 683 residents had found places in local hotels and hostels,
and another 1,144 moved into transitional housing units. Two emergency
shelters remained open for others, authorities said.
Residents had complained for almost a year about the construction
netting, Hong Kong’s Labor Department said. It confirmed officials had
carried out 16 inspections of the renovation project since July 2024 and
had warned contractors multiple times in writing that they had to meet
fire safety requirements. The latest inspection was just a week before
the fire.
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People offer flowers for the victims near the site of a deadly
Wednesday fire at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po
district of Hong Kong's New Territories on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP
Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Hong Kong's anti-corruption authorities and police have arrested 14
people, including the directors and an engineering consultant of a
construction company, according to Chris Tang, the secretary for
security.
People increasingly have been questioning whether government officials
should also be held responsible.
“People are angry and think that the HK (Hong Kong) government should be
accountable,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a locally-based political
scientist and senior research fellow at Paris's Asia Centre think tank.
But the leeway for dissent is limited in the former British colony,
which came under Chinese control in 1997 and has moved to quiet public
criticism on national security grounds.
“There are rumors being spread by bad people giving fake news about the
firefighters not employing the correct tactics to fight the fire, or
victims being charged 8,000 Hong Kong dollars a night to stay in hotels
- these are all false,” Tang said.
“We will arrest these rumor mongers.”
On Saturday, the Office for Safeguarding National Security blasted what
it called “evil schemes” that had ”the ulterior motives of using the
disaster to create trouble and disrupt Hong Kong.” It did not give
specifics.
Also Saturday, a man who helped organize an online petition calling for
government accountability was arrested on suspicion of sedition, local
media including HK01 and Sing Tao Daily reported. Two others were
arrested on Sunday, including a volunteer who offered help in Tai Po
after the fire broke out, the same outlets reported.
Cabestan said Hong Kong officials were operating like authorities in
mainland China, forestalling protests before they might develop.
Tang would not give specific details of the three arrests, but said that
police “must take action” against those who try to “endanger national
security,” saying broadly that some people have been “taking advantage
of the saddening moment ... and attempting to incite hatred against the
government.”
Dissent in the city has been muzzled since hundreds of thousands took to
the streets in 2019 against government plans to allow extradition to
mainland China. Hong Kong now virtually bans mass protests and bars
opposition political figures from running in legislature elections.
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