Hong Kong’s Chief Executive has announced plans to form an independent committee aimed at scrutinizing and reforming the city’s building regulations. This initiative comes in the wake of the tragic Tai Po fire, which has highlighted the need for systemic changes to prevent similar incidents in the future.

During a press conference on Tuesday, John Lee emphasized the urgency of these reforms following the devastating fire in late November that claimed the lives of at least 159 people in the Tai Po district’s high-rise residential towers.

“We are determined to overcome any resistance from vested interests and will hold everyone accountable, no matter who they are. It is imperative that we uncover the truth, deliver justice, honor those who lost their lives, and provide solace to the survivors,” Lee stated firmly.

The leader of Hong Kong also disclosed that police have arrested 13 individuals on charges of suspected manslaughter, with the Independent Commission Against Corruption apprehending about a dozen others due to alleged corrupt activities linked to the catastrophe.

A somber tribute was paid with flowers placed in front of the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex on December 3, 2025, following the tragic fire on November 26 in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district. (Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images)

On Wednesday, the Hong Kong Police Department confirmed they have concluded their inspections of the seven buildings affected by the fire. They have successfully identified 140 of the 159 victims.

The Hong Kong Fire Services Department said it received reports of a blaze breaking out at the Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, a district in the northern New Territories, around 2:50 p.m. on Nov. 26.

The fire was upgraded to a No. 5 alarm, the most severe rating in Hong Kong, by 6:22 p.m.

Photos from the scene showed the bamboo scaffolding of the towers engulfed in flames and thick, dark smoke pouring out of multiple floors.

Thick smoke and flames rise as a major fire engulfs several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Nov. 26, 2025. (Yan Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)

Chan Kwong-tak, an 83-year-old retiree living in the community, told The South China Morning Post that the fire alarms failed to go off when the blaze broke out, even though the buildings were equipped with them.

“If someone was sleeping then, they were done,” he said.

Lee told reporters the government had “identified failures in different stages,” adding that officials must act decisively to close loopholes and hold those responsible to account.

“The bottlenecks will be addressed. And we will reform the whole building renovation system to ensure that such things will not happen again,” he said.

People offer flowers for the victims outside Wang Fuk Court following the deadly Nov. 26 fire in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Nov. 30, 2025.

Hong Kong’s Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said last week that the Buildings Department will review the safety rules governing scaffolding and protective nets after the fatal Wang Fuk Court fire.

Hon-ho noted that the fire is suspected to have been caused by industry non-compliance rather than from bamboo scaffolding itself, though bamboo structures are less fire-resistant than metal ones.