LAST UPDATE | 26 Nov 2025

THE DEATH TOLL from a high-rise fire in Hong Kong has risen to at least 44, officials said Thursday as the blaze still smouldered and police said three suspects were arrested.

Hundreds more remained unaccounted for in the city’s worst blaze in decades.

The fire which started on Wednesday afternoon in an eight-building complex with 2,000 apartment units shocked the Chinese financial hub, which has some of the world’s most densely populated and tallest residential blocks.

The fire department raised the death toll from 36 to 44 in an early morning press briefing.

Police said in a brief advisory three men were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the fire. It gave no details about what specifically they were accused of doing.

Video from the scene showed at least five buildings close to each other ablaze, with flames coming out of many of the apartments’ windows. Firefighters were aiming water at the intense flames from high up on ladder trucks.

The raging fire sent up a column of flames and thick smoke as it spread on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting that had been set up around the exterior of the complex in the city’s Tai Po district. Records show the housing complex consisted of eight blocks housing almost 2,000 apartments.

The Hong Kong government earlier reported four deaths and said three other people were taken to hospital. Two of the injured were in critical condition and the other person was stable, a brief statement said.

Police said they had received multiple reports of people trapped in the affected buildings.

Firefighters tackling the fire PA PA

Hong Kong media said that one of the dead was a firefighter, but that could not be immediately confirmed.

The blaze was reported mid afternoon and upgraded to the second highest level of severity, the Fire Services Department said.

Tai Po is a suburban area in the New Territories, in the northern part of Hong Kong and near the border with the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong at building construction and renovation projects, though the government said earlier this year that it would start phasing it out for public projects because of safety concerns.

With additional reporting from AFP