The death toll in Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades increased to 159 on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.
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Police revealed that victims included an infant and a 97-year-old as they continued their search for remains in the scorched apartment complex.
Authorities said investigators uncovered more bodies in the ruins, some of which have been found on rooftops and stairwells and others reduced to nothing more than ashes.
Residents forced to flee the only block of the eight not engulfed in flames a week ago returned briefly to their homes to retrieve belongings, as hundreds of others housed in temporary accommodation struggled to rebuild their lives.
Of the 159 bodies found, 140 have been identified. They comprise 91 females and 49 males, aged between one and 97 years.
Foreign domestic helpers from Indonesia and the Philippines are among 31 people still missing.
“We really want, if there are any bodies left at the scene, we can uncover them as soon as possible so that the surviving family, they can pay a final goodbye,” Police Commissioner Chow Yat-ming told a press conference on Wednesday.
Police have arrested 21 suspects for manslaughter in a probe into the cause of the fire, while Hong Kong’s anti-corruption body is also investigating possible graft.
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