Video Evidence Reveals Cigarette Caused Hong Kong Apartment Fire That Claimed 168 Lives

Video Evidence Presented at Independent Committee Hearing
Cigarette Butt Identified as Most Likely Cause
CCTV Captures Smoking and Shouts of "Fire"

Video evidence has been released showing that the cause of the fire at the ‘Wang Fuk Court (宏福苑)’ apartment in Hong Kong last November, which claimed 168 lives, was a cigarette.

On March 20, AP and other foreign media reported that the independent committee in charge of investigating the incident held its first hearing the previous day, during which it heard opening statements from the legal team and witness testimonies. Victor Dawes, the chief counsel of the independent committee, stated in his opening remarks that the most likely cause of the fire was a cigarette butt that ignited flammable materials on a platform in the ventilator shaft between two lower-floor units in Wang Cheong House.

He argued that, given the discovery of burnt cardboard boxes and cigarette butts at the scene, it is highly likely that people had been smoking in violation of the regulations. At the time of the fire, the buildings were undergoing maintenance. Scaffolding had been installed on the exterior for construction work at height.

The scene of the ‘Wang Fuk Court’ apartment in Hong Kong, where a large fire occurred last November. Photo by Reuters, Yonhap News.

Closed-circuit TV footage released during the hearing further supported this claim. On the day of the fire, CCTV footage showed workers wearing uniforms labeled with the name of the construction company, ‘Wang Yip,’ smoking cigarettes at around 2:10 p.m. The footage also captured a scene in which, after smoke was noticed, one person asked, “Who started the fire with a cigarette?” and another denied responsibility.

Subsequently, one worker is seen loudly shouting that the scaffolding was on fire. In another video, at 2:43 p.m., a worker is captured smoking on the roof of Wang Cheong House. However, Dawes added that it is not certain whether this individual started the fire.

The committee identified several factors that contributed to the spread of the fire: the use of flammable mesh, the deactivation of the fire alarm system, and the removal of fire-resistant windows from the stairwell corridors. In seven out of the eight buildings, the fire alarm systems had been turned off. The removal of windows in the stairwell corridors for construction convenience caused smoke and flames to spread rapidly inside the buildings. Other causes cited included fire hoses being cut off for several months, exceeding the legal limit of 14 days, and windows being blocked with foam boards.

Dawes pointed out that, regarding the renovation project for the apartment, which was worth 330 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 64.2 billion won), the relevant authorities—including the Labor Department, Fire Services Department, and Housing Department—were shifting responsibility for verifying whether the construction materials met fire-resistance standards. “This fire revealed an unacceptable systemic failure,” he said. The hearings will be held a total of eight times, concluding on April 2.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.