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Hong Kong‘s leader has apologised and the housing secretary has stepped down after an independent inquiry found government departments failed to supervise renovation work before a fire that killed 168 people last year.
John Lee, the chief executive, and seven other senior officials bowed in apology at a press conference on Thursday as he announced the inquiry’s findings.
The inquiry, led by a judge, found that a lit cigarette most likely started the fire on a flat roof between two flats on the first floor of one block, Wang Cheong House. It heard substantial evidence that construction workers had smoked on the site, including on the scaffolding.
Winnie Ho, the housing secretary, resigned on Wednesday, and her duties have been suspended.
“Considering that the fire took place in Wang Fuk Court and it falls within the purview of the Independent Checking Unit, which is under the Housing Bureau, the Secretary for Housing should take political accountability,” Mr Lee said. He said no personal wrongdoing by Ms Ho was found.
The fire began on 26 November 2025 at the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po, in northern Hong Kong, and spread through seven of its eight blocks, which were undergoing renovation. It killed 168 people, injured 79 and left thousands homeless.
The fire spread because foam boards, scaffolding nets and canvases that were not fire-retardant had been used, and most of those who died were killed by smoke and not by burns. Staircase windows had been replaced with panels or boards for the workers’ convenience, which let smoke into escape routes, and foam boards that covered the flats’ windows blocked residents’ views and delayed evacuation. The fire alarm system had been shut down.
The inquiry blamed the consultant on the renovation, Will Power Architects Company, and the main contractor, Prestige Construction & Engineering Co, for cutting corners.
“There is no doubt that they are the main culprits responsible for the occurrence of the inferno and the high fatalities in the tragic incident,” the report said.
It also found that a number of registered contractors and building professionals did no real work and lent their names to statutory forms for a fee.
“However … deception succeeded because the regulators’ own practices enabled it,” the report said.
The Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit and the Buildings Department, which were primarily responsible for supervising the work, failed in their duties, the inquiry found.
It criticised the unit for telling consultants and contractors in advance when it would inspect the site. Mr Lee said the Fire Services Department and the Labour Department also had shortcomings in supervising fire hazards.
The government will carry out a three-month investigation into the four departments to decide whether staff neglected their duties, and has proposed a series of measures, including making bid rigging a crime. The inquiry made 120 recommendations, and the government said it will publish the full report after the criminal proceedings end.
Seven people and the two companies have been charged with offences including manslaughter and conspiracy to defraud over the fire, separate from the inquiry.
Prosecutors allege they conspired to defraud the flat owners by concealing the litigation record of the company that won the renovation contract, which was worth more than HK$300m (£29m).
