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The chief executive of Hong Kong, John Lee, has apologised for a massive fire that ripped through an apartment complex last year and killed 168 people.
Speaking at a press conference, Lee promised major reforms to government departments to ensure such an incident would not happen again.
A report by an independent committee, released by the government at the press conference, found that the fire was caused by “misconduct” by the private sector as well as “decades of failure” by government bodies.
The massive blaze at Wang Fuk Court in November 2025 was the deadliest the city had seen in decades. Dozens of people have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, fraud or corruption.
At the start of the press conference on Thursday, John Lee said he was “deeply sorrowful” about the fire and that on behalf of his government, “I apologise to the victims as well as the city’s residents”.
He then stood up and bowed, along with several top officials.
Later he announced that the city’s housing secretary Winnie Ho had resigned to take accountability for the fire.
The independent committee’s report found that the fire was most likely caused by a “glowing source, likely a cigarette” which ignited “paper materials” at the apartment complex, which was undergoing extensive renovation at the time.
Officials have said the government may start using AI and drones with infra-red cameras to detect and identify smokers on construction sites.
The report also found that the construction companies in charge of the renovation used sub-standard building materials and had unsafe procedures.
This included using scaffolding nets that were not fire retardant and covering up windows with inflammable foam boards for a prolonged period of time.
The companies had also used fake information in paperwork to “feign compliance” with regulators’ rules, according to the report.
The committee said the main contractor and consultant for the renovation, as well as several individuals associated with the project, deserved “the most severe criticisms” for the fire.
But had the various government departments involved in the project possessed a “sense of crisis” and “paid sufficient heed” to the possibility of misconduct, it added, such behaviour as well as the fire hazards at Wang Fuk Court could have been rectified.
The report also said there were “widespread, systematic and long-standing” practices in the construction sector that were “unlawful and dubious”. There was also bid-rigging and other misconduct by various parties, including some who had connections with local mafias, it said.
Lee said that the various government bodies involved in the case would be investigated, and that a unit in the housing bureau which conducts independent checks would be replaced.
Lee also promised to crack down on bid-rigging, including criminalising the practice, and introduce long jail terms and heavy fines.
Built in the 1980s, Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong’s north-eastern Tai Po district housed about 4,600 people.
Nearly 40% of the residents were 65 or older, and many of the fire’s victims were elderly people.
Thousands of firefighters were deployed to bring the fire under control. One of them, 37-year-old Ho Wai-ho, died during the firefighting operation.
The fire deeply shocked and worried Hong Kong, a densely populated city where many residents live in similar ageing high-rises, and sparked calls for accountability.
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