Hong kong apartment complex fire (nov 2025)

The arrest was part of a crackdown on speech that the authorities say is inciting hatred of the government. Critics say officials are silencing calls for accountability.

The government is pushing hard to raise turnout in an election overshadowed by a deadly fire and public anger over safety lapses and official accountability.

Hong Kong, with some of the world’s highest housing costs and inequality, must now figure out how to help thousands of residents who lost friends, family and homes.

The authorities accused “some foreign media” of smearing the government’s response to a fire at a high-rise complex, saying: “Do not say you have not been warned.”

Investigators say contractors wrapped the buildings in substandard scaffolding netting and then sought to hide it from inspectors. The toll from the fire rose to 151.

Residents of Wang Fuk Court apartments had raised concerns about flammable foam panels and scaffold netting, but the government did not take decisive action.