Hong Kong panel hears safety measures failed on day of deadly fire

FILE PHOTO: Thick smoke and flames rise as a major fire engulfs several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong's Tai Po district on November 26, 2025. An independent committee investigating a devastating fire that ripped through a Hong Kong housing complex last year began a series of public hearings on March 19, 2026, into the blaze that killed 168 people. - AFP

HONG KONG: Almost all life-saving fire safety measures failed on the day a devastating blaze tore through a Hong Kong housing complex last year, killing 168 people, a public hearing was told on Thursday (March 19).

The November 26 blaze at Wang Fuk Court, a high-rise apartment complex in the financial hub's Tai Po district, was the world's deadliest residential building fire since 1980.