Death toll in Hong Kong apartment complex blaze rises to 146 as the city mourns

— The death toll in Hong Kong’s apartment complex blaze rose to 146 on Sunday as investigators discovered more bodies in the burned-out buildings.

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POLICE REMOVE what appears to be a body bag from the site of a deadly Wednesday fire at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong's New Territories on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/ Chan Long Hei)

(AP Photo/ Chan Long Hei)

A steady stream of people placed bouquets of flowers at an ever-growing makeshift memorial at the scene of the disaster, among the worst in the city>s history.

The Hong Kong police Disaster Victim Identification Unit has been going through the buildings of the Wang Fuk Court complex meticulously and has found bodies both in apartment units and on the roofs, said the officer in charge, Cheng Ka-chun.

The buildings remain structurally sound, but the search has been slow, he told reporters, still wearing his white coveralls with his hard hat and respiratory mask at his side. “It is so dark inside, and because of the low light, it is very difficult to do the work, especially in places away from the windows.”

So far, the team has examined four of the seven blocks, Cheng said.

The latest searches turned up another 30 bodies, including 12 that had already been discovered by firefighters but hadn’t been recovered, said Tsang Shuk-yin, the head of the Hong Kong police casualty unit.