Tai Po fire: watchdog calls for bid-rigging to be criminalised to help fight back

An independent, judge-led committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will hear closing submissions from legal representatives, following 27 sessions of evidential hearings.Counsel representing the committee, the government and other parties are expected to deliver their final submissions before the panel from Wednesday to Friday, after which it will proceed to finalise a report due in about a month.A deadly blaze broke out at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po on November 26, 2025.The fire engulfed seven of the estate’s eight buildings, killing 168 people and displacing nearly 5,000 residents, making it the city’s worst inferno since 1948.At the time of the incident, Wang Fuk Court was undergoing a HK$336 million facade renovation after the owners’ corporation selected the most expensive option, raising suspicions of bid-rigging.In the previous round of hearings, the committee, chaired by Justice David Lok Kai-hong, heard evidence from experts appointed by both the government and the panel.The experts said the fire spread at a rate of 10 metres per second along the buildings and generated 11 fire plumes within two hours.They identified the use of non-fire-retardant materials, including scaffolding mesh and plastic sheeting, as a key factor in the rapid spread of the blaze.They also pointed to the creation of temporary openings in the walls of emergency staircases as another contributing factor to the heavy toll.These openings, which replaced fire-rated windows and were covered with wooden boards to allow workers access to scaffolding, enabled heat, flames and toxic smoke to enter the stairwells, compromising residents’ escape routes.The widespread use of styrofoam boards to block unit windows during the renovation was also cited, as it prevented residents from detecting the fire early and delayed their response, the committee heard.Follow the South China Morning Post’s live coverage as the hearing goes on. coverage: