LONDON — At least 36 people were killed and hundreds reported missing after a massive fire engulfed a residential apartment complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Wednesday, officials said.
The fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court shortly before 3 p.m. local time Wednesday and was upgraded to a No. 5 alarm, city officials said.
The blaze is now “gradually under control,” Hong Kong leader John Lee said during a press briefing early Thursday local time. He added that the director of the fire services assured him the department has sufficient manpower and resources to control and extinguish the fire.
Wong 71, reacts while saying his wife was trapped inside Wang Fuk Court during a major fire, in Tai Po, Hong Kong, China, November 26, 2025.
Tyrone Siu/Reuters
People look at flames engulfing a building after a fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong’s New Territories, Nov. 26 2025.
Chan Long Hei/AP
At least 36 people were dead, according to Lee, as the death toll continued to rise in the hours since the fire started.
Over two dozen were injured, including many who were transferred to two local hospitals, fire officials said.
Some 279 people have been reported missing, Lee said.
Firefighters work as efforts are underway to extinguish flames engulfing bamboo scaffolding across multiple buildings at the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po, Hong Kong, China, Nov. 26, 2025.
Tyrone Siu/Reuters
One of the dead was a firefighter who had been called to the scene from nearby Sha Tin Fire Station, according to Andy Yeung, the director of Fire Services.
Yeung in a statement named the firefighter as Ho Wai-ho, 37, adding he “was found collapsed at the scene” of the fire. He was rushed to the hospital, where he later died, Yeung said.
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.
Yan Zhao/AFP via Getty Images
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire which broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong’s New Territories, Nov. 26 2025.
Chan Long Hei/AP
“The fire has resulted in many casualties, including a fireman who died in the line of duty,” Lee said in an earlier statement posted to social media. “I express my deep sadness and my deep condolences to the families of the dead and the injured.”
Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung said the fire department was “doing its utmost to put out the fire,” he said.
More than 140 fire engines and over 800 firefighters and paramedics have been deployed to put out this fire, with drones also in use, officials said.
An apartment burns in Tai Po in Hong Kong, China, November 26, 2025.
Leung Man Hei/EPA/Shutterstock
Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences sympathies to the victims’ families and those affected in a statement. He said he ordered authorities to “do everything possible to ensure search and rescue operations, medical treatment for the injured, and post-disaster relief, and to provide necessary assistance to relevant departments and local authorities to minimize casualties and losses.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Karson Yiu contributed to this report.