Death toll in Hong Kong high-rise fire rises to 36, with 279 reported missing [View all]
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.
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