Tai Po Heng Fuk Estate Fire Government Departments Enforcement Timeline
Timeline cross-verified from sources (including Wikipedia and government news sites), times corrected to most accurate version: Fire started at 2025-11-26 14:51, police arrests on 11-27; fire rescue times from Wikipedia precise records. [attached_file:1]
Police Actions
| Date & Time | Event Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-26 Afternoon | Initial investigation after fire outbreak suspects protective nets, tarpaulins, foam boards, and window materials do not meet fire safety standards | news.gov.hk [attached_file:1] |
| 2025-11-27 | Arrested 3 persons (2 directors of Hung Yip Construction + 1 engineering consultant, aged 52-68), suspected of manslaughter, searched offices and residences | Wikipedia, wenweipo |
| 2025-11-27 | 3 persons granted bail, must report in December, continue investigating CCTV and evidence | stheadline |
| 2025-11-30 18:00 | Casualty Enquiry Team successfully contacted 159 citizens confirming safety; 92 deceased and 37 injured confirmed as previously reported missing. 54 bodies awaiting identification | HK01 |
| 2025-12-02 | Police arrested total 15 persons suspected of manslaughter, including 2 engineering company personnel arrested late Dec 1, ongoing multi-faceted evidence collection | info.gov.hk |
| 2025-12-03 | Arrested 6 responsible persons and staff of registered fire service installation contractors for fraud; 15 manslaughter suspects granted bail, to report mid-December | info.gov.hk |
| 2025-12-09 | Arrested 36-year-old unemployed man for using others' ID copies to fraudulently obtain $18,000 relief from 3 welfare organizations, to be charged with 4 fraud offenses | HK01, Wen Wei Po |
| 2025-12-09 | Investigating 6 estates' scaffolding nets suspected of false documentation, involving Bay View in Western District, Peak Court in Chai Wan, Fu Chak Garden in North Point, Yi Kok Court in Sham Shui Po, Ching Lai Court in Cheung Sha Wan, and Yuen Kong Garden in Hung Hom | Hong Kong Commercial Daily |
| 2025-12-14 | Death toll updated to 160, 6 still missing | HK01 |
ICAC Actions
| Date & Time | Event Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-27 | Established task force to investigate suspected corruption in $330M major repair project | icac.org.hk, info.gov.hk |
| 2025-11-28 | Arrested 8 persons (7 males 1 female, aged 40-63, including 2 consultant company directors, 2 project managers, subcontractor couple + middleman), searched 13 locations | yahoo finance, rthk |
| 2025-11-28 Late/29 | Re-arrested original 3 engineering supervisors (transferred to corruption charges after police bail), total 11 detained | stheadline, yahoo news |
| 2025-11-30 | ICAC Commissioner Au Wing-ming stated 12 persons arrested including engineering consultants, contractors, and scaffolding subcontractors, involved purchasing non-fire-retardant nets cheaply | Bau.com.hk |
Fire Services Department Actions
| Date & Time | Event Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-26 14:51 | Received fire report, first responders arrived at 14:56, escalated to No. 5 alarm at 18:22 | Wikipedia, news.gov.hk |
| 2025-11-26 to 28 | Found fire alarms in 8 blocks not working, will enforce against fire equipment contractor; seized scaffold nets, foam boards for testing | Wikipedia, hk01 |
| 2025-11-28 | Established inter-departmental investigation team (FSD leading), first meeting and site inspection on 29th | info.gov.hk, hk01 |
| 2025-12-02 to 03 | Ongoing photo evidence collection at fire scene, discussing 3D modeling with Lands Department | info.gov.hk |
| 2025-12-03 | Debris excavation at Hung Cheung House 1/F platform, preliminary fire damage assessment at Hung Tai House and Hung Kin House; seized fire pump room evidence | info.gov.hk |
| 2025-12-09 | Set up safety ropes at Hung Tai House platform to access underground pump room for victim identification team search; inter-departmental team reconvened to investigate fire origin | info.gov.hk |
Buildings Department Actions
| Date & Time | Event Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-27 | Independent review of external wall materials fire standards, special inspections on ongoing projects, require submission of scaffold net fire-retardant test reports, prosecute violations | Wikipedia, news.gov.hk |
| 2025-11-28 | Participated in inter-departmental team, inspected Heng Fuk Estate repair works and similar projects citywide | thewitnesshk, info.gov.hk |
| 2025-11-30 18:00 | Housing Department mobilized over 100 professionals for preliminary inspections of 6 buildings, completing over 1,500 units preliminary checks. Hung Yan House, Hung To House, Hung Kin House, Hung Tai House, Hung Shing House and Hung Chi House completed | HK01 |
| 2025-12-02 | Sampled scaffolding nets from 352 private buildings, sending for testing in batches; Architectural Services Dept inspected 18 projects under jurisdiction | info.gov.hk |
| 2025-12-03 | Sampled from 398 private buildings with scaffolding nets; Development Bureau mandates all major renovation buildings remove nets by Dec 6 | info.gov.hk |
| 2025-12-04 | Housing Department completed removal of scaffolding nets from 15 public housing estates | RTHK |
| 2025-12-09 | Housing Bureau independent review team extracted concrete cores from all 7 affected blocks for structural safety inspection | Wen Wei Po |
Labour Department Actions
| Date & Time | Event Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| From 2024-07 | Inspected Heng Fuk Estate project 16 times, last fire safety reminder to contractor on 2025-11-20 | Wikipedia |
| 2025-11-27 to 28 | Announced 2-week citywide special enforcement operation starting 11-28, inspecting fire facilities at large scaffold repair sites | info.gov.hk, yahoo finance |
| 2025-12-02 | Inspected 110 construction sites, issued 70 written warnings and 46 improvement notices, 11 prosecutions | info.gov.hk |
| 2025-12-03 | Inspected 175 sites, issued 92 warnings and 49 notices, 13 prosecutions | info.gov.hk |
| 2025-12-04 | Inspected 239 sites, issued 130 warnings and 61 notices, 17 prosecutions | RTHK |
| 2025-12-12 | Inspected 467 large scaffolding building repair sites, 25 prosecutions mainly for smoking, fire escape routes not maintained | HK01 |
National Security Police Actions
| Date & Time | Event Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-28 Evening | NS Police Chief Superintendent Li Kwai-wah led team to patrol fire site, deter black violence remnants and prevent exploiting disaster for chaos | tkww.hk |
| 2025-11-29 | NS Police arrested 1 male (Miles Kwan Ching-fung), suspected inciting public, related to "Tai Po Heng Fuk Estate Fire Concern Group" online "Four Demands" petition | hk01, facebook |
Hong Kong National Security Office Actions
| Date & Time | Event Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-29 Afternoon | Spokesperson issued statement supporting HKSAR to strictly punish "anti-China chaos-makers exploiting disaster", counter external interference | mingpao |
Independent Inquiry Committee
| Date & Time | Event Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-12 | Chairman Luk Kai-hong stated investigation into fire origin and rapid spread, large building maintenance arrangements, and adequacy of laws/penalties, report within 9 months | HK01 |
Data as of: December 15, 2025
Note: Directly translated by AI, not manually verified.