First Hearing on Tai Po Fire in Hong Kong: Human Factors, Failure of Fire Safety Measures

The Independent Commission on the Tai Po Wang Fuk Court fire in Hong Kong held its first hearing on the 9th, revealing that fire safety measures failed due to human factors.

The five-alarm fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on November 26, 2025 was officially confirmed to have resulted in 168 deaths and 79 injuries.

According to Hong Kong Radio News Network, the commission's representative, Barrister Du Kan-Kun, first made a statement, pointing out that according to the available information, almost all life-protecting fire safety measures on the day of the fire utterly failed due to human factors.

Du Kan-Kun mentioned that according to regulations, fire hydrant and hose reel systems cannot be out of service for more than 14 days, but based on the investigation, the contractor repeatedly applied to the Fire Services Department for an extension of the out-of-service period, causing the fire hydrant and hose reel systems to be shut down for several months. He also said there is evidence that a large number of cigarette butts were left on the scaffolding and the lightwell platform suspected to be the source of the fire, and that repeated resident complaints about smoking on the construction site were not taken seriously. Furthermore, in 7 out of the 8 buildings of Wang Fuk Court, the fire alarm system had been switched off, resulting in delayed warnings to residents and greatly reducing their escape time.

Du Kan-Kun stated that the commission has collected over one million documents, including photos, videos, and files, covering CCTV footage from the day, resident complaints about the major repair work, government responses to residents, and previously undisclosed internal records, including communications from the contractor, some of which directly admitted that what was present at the fire scene on the day was not a fireproof scaffolding net.

Du Kan-Kun said that the information obtained by the commission at this stage is already quite comprehensive and is at least sufficient to ascertain the facts related to the fire. The commission will review the relevant evidence and consider each party's statements before making a conclusion.

He said that the cause of the fire and the spread of the fire were the result of multiple overlapping factors, and that the role of each factor in the entire incident will be discussed one by one with expert testimony later.