Hong Kong Police and ICAC Charge Seven People and Two Firms With Manslaughter Over Wang Fuk Court Fire
Authorities filed the first charges from a months-long probe into the November 2025 blaze that killed 168 people at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex.
South China Morning PostHong Kong police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption have charged seven people and two companies with a total of 26 offences, including manslaughter, in connection with the fire at Wang Fuk Court that killed 168 people on 15 November 2025.
The charges were laid following a 20-month investigation by a government-appointed independent committee and separate probes by the police and anti-graft body.
The defendants appeared in West Kowloon Court on Wednesday. Structural engineering consultancy firm Will Power Architects and main contractor Prestige Construction and Engineering were each charged with one count of manslaughter. Three individuals — Ho Kin-yip, 52, a director of Prestige; Wong Hap-yin, 40, a director of Will Power; and Ng Yeuk, 44, the firm’s registered inspector — were also charged with manslaughter.
All three were remanded in custody after bail was denied.
According to court documents and statements from the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the three men additionally face corruption-related charges laid by the anti-graft body. These include conspiracy to defraud in the tendering and supervision of renovation works at the housing complex, money laundering involving three individuals, attempting to pervert the course of public justice by hiding a large bag of cash, and pressuring a witness to provide false information.
Wong Hap-yin’s wife and a friend were among four others charged in the corruption counts.
The independent committee’s report, cited in filings, found that fire alarms had been deactivated in seven of the eight residential blocks and that windows were boarded up with flammable foam boards. Police said the charges also encompass tax evasion allegations.
By March 2026, police had arrested 38 people in connection with the manslaughter and fraud inquiries. The ICAC separately arrested 23 people, including consultants, contractors and members of the owners’ corporation of Wang Fuk Court.
