The tragic blaze that swept through an apartment complex in Hong Kong has claimed the lives of 146 individuals, according to recent updates on Sunday. As investigators continue their grim search, more bodies have been uncovered within the charred remains of the buildings.

In the wake of this devastating event, a growing number of mourners have gathered at a makeshift memorial, placing flowers and paying their respects. The scale of this catastrophe has drawn parallels to the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London, which resulted in 72 fatalities.

Leading the meticulous investigation is Cheng Ka-chun of the Hong Kong police Disaster Victim Identification Unit. The team has been combing through the Wang Fuk Court complex, finding remains in both the apartments and on the rooftops.

Despite the structural integrity of the buildings being intact, the search process is progressing slowly, Cheng explained to reporters. His white coveralls and protective gear were a stark reminder of the challenging conditions inside. “The darkness makes it incredibly difficult to work, especially in areas far from windows,” he noted, emphasizing the challenges faced by the search teams.

So far, four out of the seven blocks have been thoroughly examined, Cheng reported. The most recent efforts uncovered an additional 30 bodies. Among these, 12 had previously been located by firefighters but had yet to be retrieved, according to Tsang Shuk-yin, head of the Hong Kong police casualty unit.

The latest searches turned up another 30 bodies, including 12 that had already been discovered by firefighters but hadn’t been recovered, said Tsang Shuk-yin, the head of the Hong Kong police casualty unit.

Another 100 people are unaccounted for and 79 have been injured, Tsang said.

At the scene, well-wishers bowed and said short prayers, or left handwritten notes among the flowers.

The death toll in Hong Kong’s apartment complex blaze rose to 146 on Sunday as investigators discovered more bodies in the burned-out buildings 

Thick smoke and flames rise as a major fire engulfs several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on November 26, 2025

‘This really serves as a wake-up call for everyone, especially with these super high-rise buildings,’ said Lian Shuzheng, who waited in a line of hundreds of people to add her flowers to the growing cluster.

People have also donated supplies to those who lost everything in the blaze, which started Wednesday and took until Friday to fully extinguish.

The eight buildings of the Wang Fuk Court complex in the suburb of Tai Po had all been clad in bamboo scaffolding draped with nylon netting for renovations, with windows covered by polystyrene panels. Authorities were investigating whether fire codes were violated.

Hong Kong officials announced late Saturday they had ordered the immediate suspension of work on 28 building projects undertaken by the same contractor, the Prestige Construction & Engineering Company, for safety audits.

‘The five alarm fire at Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po, exposed serious deficiencies of PC&E in site safety management, including the extensive use of foam boards to block up windows during building repairs,’ the government said in a statement.

The company did not answer calls Sunday for comment.

Three men – the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company – were arrested the day after the fire broke out on suspicion of manslaughter, and police said company leaders were suspected of gross negligence. Police did not identify the firm by name.

Those three were released on bail but then rearrested by Hong Kong’s anti-corruption authorities, who have also arrested a further eight suspects including scaffolding subcontractors, directors of an engineering consulting company and the renovation project managers.

Emergency crew remove what appears to be a body bag from 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 Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025

Police remove what appears to be a body bag from 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 Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025

The apartment complex of eight, 31-story buildings in Tai Po, a suburb near Hong Kong’s border with mainland China, was built in the 1980s. It had almost 2,000 apartments and more than 4,600 residents.

Many are now housed in short-term emergency shelters or city hotels, and authorities are working on longer-term solutions.

‘It’s heartbreaking,’ said Jeffery Chan, a civil servant who came to pay his respects on Sunday.

‘As a Hong Konger, seeing people in the place where we live lose their families, lose everything in just one night – if you put yourself in their shoes, it is unbearable. They need encouragement, support and help from the people of Hong Kong,’ he said.

Preliminary investigations showed the fire started Wednesday afternoon on a lower-level scaffolding net of one of the buildings, and then spread rapidly inside as the foam panels caught fire and blew out windows, according to Chris Tang, Hong Kong’s secretary for security. 

Winds helped the flames jump from building to building and soon seven of the eight were engulfed.

First responders found that some fire alarms in the complex, which housed many older people, did not sound when tested, according to Andy Yeung, the director of Hong Kong Fire Services.

The dead included seven Indonesian migrant workers, and several dozen are still unaccounted for, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said. 

One Filipina domestic helper was also killed and 12 others remain unaccounted for, according to the Philippines Consulate General in Hong Kong.

Emergency responders carry a body at the scene of the Tai Po apartment fire in Hong Kong, China, 28 November 2025

Thick smoke and flames rise as a major fire engulfs several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on November 26, 2025

Officials are investigating why construction materials, netting and bamboo scaffolding being used in renovations to the exterior of the buildings caught fire

A man reacts, as smoke rises while flames engulf bamboo scaffolding across multiple buildings at Wang Fuk Court housing estate, in Tai Po, Hong Kong, China, November 26, 2025

On Sunday afternoon, several hundred Filipinos packed a pedestrian street in central Hong Kong, saying prayers and singing hymns in tribute to the fire victims.

In Beijing, the Ministry of Emergency Management announced a nationwide inspection of high-rise buildings to identify and remove fire hazards.

‘Bamboo scaffolding, non-flame-retardant safety nets… and firefighting facilities and equipment such as fire hydrant systems, automatic sprinkler systems and automatic fire alarm systems, will be among the main items to be inspected,’ the ministry said.

The Wang Fuk Court fire is the worst on record since a warehouse blaze in 1948 killed 176 people.

The deadliest fire in Hong Kong’s recorded history was the 1918 Race Course Fire, in which more than 600 people were killed, according to the city’s Antiquities and Monuments Office.