Deadly Hong Kong estate fire: 8 fresh arrests, probe widens to graft and safety lapses as death toll hits 128

Police and ICAC investigations are continuing, with more arrests possible as evidence is gathered from site inspections, procurement records and contractor communications.

Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency has arrested eight more people in connection with the Wang Fuk Court housing estate fire in Tai Po, as the death toll rose to at least 128 and around 200 residents remain unaccounted for.

The massive blaze, which swept through multiple blocks of the public housing compound, has also left at least 79 people injured, according to Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang. CNN reported that firefighters brought the fire under control 42 hours after it started.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said the latest arrests include engineering consultants, scaffolding subcontractors and a middleman linked to the building’s repair and maintenance works, Global Times reported. On Thursday, Hong Kong Police had already arrested three men tied to the renovation project on suspicion of gross negligence and manslaughter.

Why did arrests surge now?

The latest ICAC action comes as frontline firefighting and rescue operations are nearing completion after days of work at Wang Fuk Court, local officials said. With more bodies being recovered and identified, and residents still missing, authorities are under intense pressure to explain why the flames spread so quickly through a complex that had been under renovation.

Early findings suggest that polystyrene boards and other construction materials, including nets and canvas used on the estate’s scaffolding, did not meet safety standards, according to officials cited by CNN. Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung said the polystyrene boards were “extremely inflammable” and that their presence on residential windows was “unusual,” noting that the issue had been referred to police for further investigation.

How the Wang Fuk Court fire unfolded

Wang Fuk Court, an affordable housing complex completed in 1983, houses around 4,000 residents across 1,984 units. At the time of the incident, all eight residential blocks were wrapped in green mesh and scaffolding as part of a major renovation, Xinhua reported.

The fire is believed to have started on the scaffolding outside one building before spreading rapidly to six other blocks in the estate, fuelled by renovation materials. The intensity and speed of the blaze forced a multi-day firefighting effort, with emergency teams working through dense scaffolding and enclosed facades to reach trapped residents.

Officials said many of the dead have yet to be formally identified, while about 200 people linked to the estate remain missing. The confirmed death toll is expected to rise as identification proceeds.

Corruption, safety lapses and renovation risk

ICAC’s probe into possible corruption in repair and maintenance contracts suggests investigators are looking beyond individual negligence to structural issues in how public housing projects are run.

The eight newly arrested suspects, consultants, subcontractors and an alleged middleman, sit within the chain of decision-making and implementation on the renovation project. That chain will be critical in determining whether cost-cutting, kickbacks or collusion led to the use of non-compliant materials and unsafe methods on an occupied residential estate.

For a city that markets itself as a tightly regulated financial hub with strict building codes, the Wang Fuk Court fire exposes a weak link familiar in many dense Asian cities: ageing housing stock undergoing renovation, managed through multiple layers of subcontracting where safety can be diluted by opaque contracting and thin margins.