Death toll in Hong Kong tower block fire rises to 44 with hundreds still missing

Huge blaze broke out at Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po district on Wednesday

People look at flames engulfing a building after a fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong's New Territories, Wednesday, Nov. 26 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

The death toll from a huge fire that has engulfed several residential tower blocks in Hong Kong has risen to 44, with nearly 300 people reported missing, the city’s leader, John Lee, said in the early hours of Thursday morning.

A taskforce has been set up to investigate the cause of the fire, which broke out on Wednesday afternoon at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po, in the northern New Territories. The complex is made up of eight 31-storey towers containing about 2,000 flats that house about 4,800 people.