As Hong Kong reckons with worst fire in decades, many see echoes of 2019

As Hong Kong grapples with the aftermath of a devastating housing estate fire that killed at least 159 people, the tragedy has revived some of the mistrust and divisions in the city that exploded in the form of 2019’s antigovernment protests.

The city watched in horror on November 26 as the fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court and then steadily spread to seven of the complex’s eight towers. Many residents were trapped inside, due to faulty alarms, according to official reports.

The number of casualties has kept climbing since the fire was extinguished on November 28 – after burning for more than 40 hours – but Wang Fuk Court is on track to be one of the worst fires on record since a 1948 blaze killed 176 people.

The scale has been unthinkable for many Hong Kongers.

“This is not a village in the middle of nowhere; this is a downtown area. We wouldn’t have assumed such things would have happened,” Issie, an educator who works in Tai Po district, home to Wang Fuk Court, told media.

“This is something totally unthinkable. We would have expected the government to have … put out the fire.”

After the fire broke out, Hong Kongers quickly mobilised in ways not seen since the 2019 protests, when citizens, community groups, and religious groups distributed food, water, and shelter to young protesters – even if they did not always agree with them.

In Tai Po, community groups and individuals quickly brought clothing, food, and other supplies for the housing estate’s 4,000-plus residents, as others collated online databases of assistance.

Then came a petition calling for “four demands” of government accountability in the fire, a nod to the 2019 protest slogan of “five demands, not one less”. Local media reported that more than 10,000 people signed the petition before it was eventually taken down.