Series of failures led to deadly Hong Kong fire, lawyer says as hearings begin

A series of failures contributed to a massive blaze in Hong Kong that killed 168 people last year, an independent committee was told Thursday as hearings investigating the cause got underway.

HONG KONG — An independent committee investigating the cause of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades heard accounts Thursday about how a series of failures contributed to the 2025 blaze that engulfed seven buildings and killed 168 people as hearings in the case got underway.

Former residents and relatives of the dead have been waiting for answers since November 2025, when the fire shattered the close-knit community of Wang Fuk Court, which housed thousands of people in the suburban district of Tai Po.

In his opening remarks, committee lead lawyer Victor Dawes said the most likely cause of the fire was cigarettes that lit other materials on fire on a platform in an air shaft between two low-level units in Wang Cheong House.

He said burned paper boxes and cigarette butts were found at the platform, indicating people may have been smoking at places not designated for smoking in violation of rules. At the time of the blaze, the buildings were undergoing maintenance and scaffolding had been erected outside.

Dawes noted there was no direct proof smoking cigarettes had caused the blaze.