Hong Kong Leader Apologizes for Deadly Fire as Housing Chief Resigns

By Economy Media Newsroom · October 29, 2026

John Lee, the chief executive of Hong Kong, publicly apologized on Thursday for government failings linked to a residential fire that killed 168 people last year, as an independent inquiry found that four government bodies shared responsibility for the disaster. Lee bowed alongside seven other senior officials at a press conference, and announced that Winnie Ho, the city’s secretary for housing, was stepping down, the first official to leave office over the blaze.

“As chief executive and head of the government, I am deeply saddened,” Lee said, according to Reuters. The rare show of official contrition came almost a year after the fire tore through the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in the northern district of Tai Po.

What the inquiry found

The judge-led independent committee, set up by Lee in December 2025, produced a report of more than 1,000 pages in two volumes. Reuters reported that the panel held 30 hearings, heard from 80 witnesses and reviewed more than one million files and submissions.

According to the report, as described by Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP), France 24 and the Associated Press, four public bodies were partly to blame:

• The Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit, which oversees building works at certain subsidized estates, was found to have failed in its supervisory duties. The report criticized its practice of notifying consultants and contractors in advance of site inspections.
• The Buildings Department did not properly investigate complaints about foam boards and scaffolding nets, France 24 reported.
• The Fire Services Department and the Labour Department showed shortcomings in supervising fire hazards at the complex.

Reuters quoted the report as saying that “no Government department took effective ownership” of various fire safety issues and that complaints about fire hazards “fell into a vacuum.” HKFP reported that the committee called the failings “systemic and pervasive” and said regulators’ performance fell below what residents could reasonably expect.

The committee placed primary responsibility on the two private companies behind the renovation: the main contractor, Prestige Construction & Engineering, and the project consultant, Will Power Architects. It described widespread bid rigging in the building-maintenance industry, which Reuters said the report characterized as a “corrupt ecosystem,” with some parties linked to triads, Hong Kong’s organized crime groups. The panel issued 120 recommendations, according to HKFP.

How the fire spread

The blaze broke out on Nov. 26, 2025, while seven 31-story residential towers were wrapped in scaffolding and protective netting for large-scale renovation. It was the city’s deadliest fire since 1948. HKFP reported that more than 4,600 residents were displaced, and France 24 said 79 people were injured, with most deaths caused by smoke inhalation rather than burns.

The report concluded that the fire was most likely started by a cigarette. France 24 reported that investigators traced it to a flat roof at one of the towers, Wang Cheong House, and that construction workers had smoked on site, including on scaffolding. Factors that helped the flames and smoke spread included foam boards and scaffolding nets that were not fire-retardant, staircase windows replaced with movable panels or wooden boards, and a shutdown of the fire alarm system, according to the same report. Reuters noted that residents had raised safety concerns about the renovation for more than a year before the fire.

Accountability and criminal cases

Lee said Ho “should bear political responsibility” even though the committee found no personal wrongdoing on her part, France 24 reported. Michael Wong, Hong Kong’s deputy financial secretary, who leads a task force on resettling survivors, will serve as acting housing secretary, HKFP said.

Asked why other cabinet-level secretaries whose departments were criticized had kept their posts, Lee told reporters, according to HKFP, “I have made a political decision and they must abide by it.” He also described himself as “the first person responsible” for such decisions.

The government will refer the case to the Public Service Commission, an independent body that advises on civil service discipline, which has three months to determine whether officials neglected their duties and whether disciplinary action should follow. Separately, prosecutors have brought charges against the two companies and seven individuals. Reuters reported at least 25 criminal charges, including manslaughter, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and tax evasion. The defendants’ cases are pending in court.

What comes next

Eric Chan, Hong Kong’s chief secretary for administration and the city’s second-ranking official, will lead a steering committee to oversee reforms, including legislation to make bid rigging in the construction industry a criminal offense. Lee pledged changes to the building industry and its regulatory system that would be swift but extensive.

The apology may not settle public anger. Survivors and former residents have spent nearly a year pressing for officials to be held accountable, and some groups have called for greater transparency. Before the report was released, critics argued that the committee lacked the legal powers of a full statutory public inquiry, which could limit how far it could establish the facts, Reuters reported. Authorities, meanwhile, have warned that attempts to politicize the disaster would be severely punished.

The fire also casts a shadow over Lee’s political future. His five-year term ends next June, and Reuters reported that he would not say directly whether he will seek another term.