Death toll in Hong Kong high-rise fire rises to 36, with 279 reported missing
A massive fire tore through a high-rise housing complex in Hong Kong on Wednesday, in one of the region's deadliest blazes in decades.
Hong Kong authorities say at least 36 people have died in the fire and 279 people are still missing.
At least one of the dead is a firefighter who was combating the blaze.
Police said they have arrested three men for alleged manslaughter in connection with the fire.
The Wang Fuk Court complex in Hong Kong's Tai Po district is a cluster of eight public housing towers and home to about 4,600 people in total, according to a 2021 census.
Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, making it difficult to extinguish large fires, which can spread easily from building to building.
Because of the blaze, several adjacent roads were shut down, along with about 30 bus routes which were diverted away from the fire. The fire also spread from the housing complex to the nearby Wong Shiu Chi Secondary School about 500 yards away.
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/26/nx-s1-5621800/13-people-killed-in-fire-engulfing-hong-kong-high-rise-residential-buildings-fire-services-say
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This is one of many reasons why I would never want to live in a high-rise.
= new reply since forum marked as read
To buy a single family 1-3 story "house" with a little property around it, driveway, etc, unless you're far flung in the New Territories or one of the islands (besides Victoria), places start at about US$2,000 per sq.ft and quickly go up to $4-5K per square foot for newer/more luxurious digs, closer to the business centers and/or in prestigious neighborhoods.
I dunno about know you but I paid like $100 sq ft, not too terribly far from ya 
We bought our house in 2004, and we could not afford to buy it now, with the way our neighborhood has changed.
Housing is insane!
Those poor people. 
