What an Inquiry into Hong Kong’s Deadly Apartment Fire Has Revealed

For months, residents at a Hong Kong apartment complex had complained about workers smoking near debris and questioned the safety of construction materials draped over their homes.

But no agency took responsibility, an inquiry into the deadly fire that tore through the complex last year has heard in recent weeks.

Testimony presented at hearings suggest that alarms had been deactivated, windows removed from evacuation staircases and water tanks drained. When trapped residents called for help, they found emergency hotlines were quickly overwhelmed.

The hearings are part of an inquiry by an independent, government-appointed committee into the November blaze at Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court towers that killed 168 people and displaced thousands of people.

A major, government-mandated renovation was underway at the complex when the fire broke out. Such projects are common in Hong Kong.

Here’s what we have learned from the hearings:

A lit cigarette most likely caused the fire.

Investigators said circumstantial evidence suggested the fire that started on Nov. 26, 2025, was most likely caused by a lighted cigarette igniting cardboard boxes on an outdoor platform above the ground floor.