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Hong Kong leader apologizes for deadly fire that tested Beijing’s grip on city

29 October 2026 at 17:09
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s leader made a rare apology Thursday for a residential fire that killed 168 people last year, announcing that a top housing official would resign after an investigation blamed corruption and regulatory failures for the Chinese territory’s worst human-caused disaster in decades.

© Zulu Lo

A fire last November at Wang Fuk Court, a high-rise housing estate in Hong Kong, engulfed seven of its eight towers, killing 168 people.

© Tommy Wang

A fire last November at Wang Fuk Court, a high-rise housing estate in Hong Kong, engulfed seven of its eight towers, killing 168 people.

© Philip Fong

A fire last November at Wang Fuk Court, a high-rise housing estate in Hong Kong, engulfed seven of its eight towers, killing 168 people.

© Philip Fong

A fire last November at Wang Fuk Court, a high-rise housing estate in Hong Kong, engulfed seven of its eight towers, killing 168 people.
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