A huge conflagration tore through numerous elevated residential towers in the Tai Po district of northern Hong Kong on November 26, resulting in the deaths of at least 44 people and causing injuries to scores more, while emergency services struggled to gain control of the inferno, according to Reuters.

This devastating incident highlights the ongoing safety concerns surrounding the dense, vertical living conditions prevalent in Hong Kong, particularly in older housing estates undergoing renovation, where the city’s reliance on potentially flammable materials like bamboo scaffolding can turn a building fire into a rapid, multi-block catastrophe.

Firefighters battled immense orange flames well into the evening. Thick, dark smoke poured from the 32-storey blocks, which were covered in bamboo scaffolding and a green construction netting – a practice the government began gradually eliminating in March over security worries. The origin of the fire remained unknown immediately after the event.

The housing estate, known as Wang Fuk Court, where the emergency began, contains eight residential structures with 2,000 flats in total. Fire officials had difficulty reaching the upper storeys because of the extreme heat, and the blaze was exacerbated by strong winds, causing it to jump to seven of the eight blocks. The city's highest alert, a No. 5 alarm, was declared by 6:22 pm, November 26.

One firefighter was among the 44 confirmed fatalities, and over 45 individuals sustained injuries. Authorities first received notification of the outbreak at 2:51 pm. Heartbroken residents gathered nearby, with one 71-year-old, surnamed Wong, weeping over his wife being trapped inside. Eyewitnesses reported seeing sections of scaffolding crashing down as multiple emergency vehicles lined the street.

Hong Kong's Chief Executive, John Lee, convened an urgent meeting on November 26 evening, focusing government efforts on supporting the public. Similarly, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a complete effort to put out the blaze and reduce losses. The fire forced the closure of a substantial stretch of Tai Po road, a significant highway, and led to the diversion of buses, with at least six local schools cancelling classes on November 27.

The HKD330mn ($42.43mn) renovation work at Wang Fuk Court, a complex occupied since 1983 and part of a subsidised ownership scheme, had been ongoing for a year. This is the region's most severe fire disaster since November 1996, when 41 lives were lost in a Kowloon commercial property. A subsequent inquiry led to stricter fire safety rules for the city’s high-rise construction.