Hong Kong has charged seven people and two firms over a high-rise fire that killed 168 people last November.
Hong Kong authorities have laid charges over the city’s deadliest fire in decades. On Wednesday, June 10, 2026, seven people and two companies were charged with offences including manslaughter and conspiracy to defraud in connection with the blaze that tore through the Wang Fuk Court housing estate.
According to CNN, police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption filed 25 counts against the defendants. The allegations also include money laundering, attempting to pervert the course of public justice, and tax evasion. The seven defendants were brought to court on Wednesday afternoon, told the court they understood the charges, and mostly appeared calm.
The charges follow months of waiting by former residents and relatives of the dead for answers after the fire in the suburban district of Tai Po.
The two companies charged are tied to renovation work at the estate. Authorities said the seven individuals include directors of the two firms and a registered inspector of a company named Will Power. The defendants were named in court as Wong Hap-yin, Hau Wa-kin, Ho Kin-yip, Ng Yeuk, Hung Kwok-wai, Chung So-fan, and Lin Min.
The charges follow a wider investigation that began soon after the fire. In March, police said they had arrested 38 people on accusations including manslaughter and fraud, and nine of them were charged. In the same period, the anti-graft agency arrested 23 people on suspicion of offences such as bribery and conspiracy to defraud. The probe has focused on possible corruption and the use of unsafe materials during renovations at the complex.
Wang Fuk Court Fire Death Toll
The fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court on November 26, 2025, at around 2:51pm local time. It burned for more than 43 hours and consumed seven of the estate’s eight residential blocks before it was put out two days later.
The blaze killed 168 people and injured 79. Police later confirmed the final toll after completing identification work. The victims ranged in age from six months to 98 years old. Of those who died, 58 were male and 110 were female, and many were elderly residents who had lived in the estate for decades. Among the dead were 10 domestic workers, nine from Indonesia and one from the Philippines, along with construction workers and interior decorators.
One firefighter, 37-year-old Ho Wai-ho, died during the operation. Built in the 1980s, Wang Fuk Court housed about 4,600 people, and nearly 40 percent of its residents were aged 65 or older. The fire was the deadliest in Hong Kong since the Garley Building fire in 1996, which killed 41 people.
Investigators have pointed to several factors in how the fire spread. A preliminary investigation determined the blaze was started by a cigarette butt left behind from smoking. Officials previously said substandard mesh placed outside the apartment blocks’ windows may have helped the fire spread, and the building was covered in green construction netting and bamboo scaffolding during renovation work.
The role of fire safety systems has also come under scrutiny. A lawyer representing an independent committee examining the cause of the fire said almost all fire safety systems failed on the day of the blaze because of human error. That committee’s inquiry into the cause is ongoing, separate from the criminal proceedings.
City leader John Lee said more than 30 people had been arrested in connection with the fire on suspicions of manslaughter, fraud, or corruption. Security secretary Chris Tang confirmed the final death toll at 168 after officials completed all identification work. The criminal proceedings and the separate independent inquiry into the cause of the fire are both ongoing. The disaster has drawn attention to renovation practices, the use of bamboo scaffolding, and oversight of repair work in the city’s older housing estates.
