At least 83 dead as Hong Kong firefighters battle burning towers for a second day
At least 83 dead as Hong Kong firefighters battle burning towers for a second day
Watch live from Hong Kong as the death toll from a massive fire that broke out at a residential apartment complex has risen to 55.
By CHAN HO-HIM and HUIZHONG WUUpdated 11:55 AM MST, November 27, 2025
HONG KONG (AP) — Firefighters battled for a second day to extinguish a blaze at a high-rise apartment complex in Hong Kong on Thursday, as the death toll rose to 83 in one of the deadliest blazes in the city’s modern history.
Rescuers holding flashlights were going from apartment to apartment at the charred towers as thick smoke poured out from some windows at the Wang Fuk Court complex, a dense cluster of buildings housing thousands of people in Tai Po district, a northern suburb near Hong Kong’s border with the mainland.
Officials said firefighters were still working on a handful of apartments and trying to enter all of the units in the seven towers to ensure there were no further casualties.
“Our firefighting operation is almost complete,” said Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fire Services Operations. Firefighters were working hard “to prevent the debris and embers from flaring up. What’s next is the search and rescue operation,” he added.
It was unclear how many people remained missing or trapped. Hong Kong leader John Lee said contact had been lost with 279 people early Thursday. Authorities did not provide updates on the missing people or how many were still inside the ravaged buildings Thursday during a press conference.
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Video showed rescuers searching in some apartments in the dark. Orange flames were still seen from inside several windows, though the whole complex was now largely a blackened ruin.
Firefighters have been trying to control the flames since midafternoon Wednesday, when the fire was believed to have started in bamboo scaffolding and construction netting and then spread across seven of the complex’s eight buildings.
Chan said the blaze spread “exceptionally fast” across t
