An independent committee investigating last year’s Tai Po fire has submitted its final report to the city’s leader, detailing the causes of the deadly blaze and recommending which parties should be held accountable.
Members of the independent committee file their final report to city leader John Lee on October 22, 2026. Photo: GovHK.Committee members – including its chair Judge David Lok, lawmaker and Executive Councillor Chan Kin-por, and Hospital Authority member Rex Auyeung – filed the final report to Chief Executive John Lee on Thursday morning, according to a government statement.
“We will carefully study the Committee’s report, actively follow up on its recommendations, and shortly announce the plans for the comprehensive reforms and pursuing accountability,” the government said in the statement.
The government said it will consult legal opinions before publishing the document, as several individuals involved in the probe have been charged with criminal offences. A redacted version, hiding any information that might prejudice ongoing criminal proceedings, will be released to the public next week at the earliest, HK01 reported on Thursday, citing sources.
The Tai Po fire broke out on November 26 last year, engulfing seven buildings in the government-subsidised Wang Fuk Court housing estate during large-scale renovation works. The blaze killed 168 and displaced over 4,600 residents.
Hongkongers pay tribute to victims who died in the fatal fire in Tai Po Wang Fuk Court. Photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP.Following the inferno, survivors have called for government officials to be held accountable, recalling their earlier attempts to sound the alarm over the construction company and a consultancy overseeing the renovation project.
The independent committee’s report does not name any specific officials to be held responsible, NowTV reported, citing sources. Main contractor Prestige Construction & Engineering and consultancy Will Power Architects will instead bear the blame for the tragedy.
Regarding government culpability, the report will name four departments, including the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU), the Fire Services Department, the Buildings Department, and the Labour Department, for their neglect of duties, with the ICU bearing the most responsibility.
The committee will leave it to the government to decide who to hold accountable, and whether to initiate disciplinary action.
In early October, Ming Pao reported on leaks suggesting that, as the current administration nears the end of its final term in six months, no ministers will be dismissed over the Tai Po fire.
Andy Ku (centre), a senior maintenance surveyor at the Independent Checking Unit (ICU), leaves the Wang Fuk Court independent committee hearing on May 6, 2026. Photo: James Lee/HKFP.The newspaper’s sources said that the government will investigate the “administrative responsibility” of the department heads and civil servants concerned, while shifting their main focus to proposed reforms based on the committee’s recommendations.
‘Unshirkable responsibility’Chief Executive John Lee ordered the formation of the judge-led independent committee for the Tai Po blaze in December last year, a few days after the fire broke out.
From March this year, the committee hosted 30 hearings over four months, summoning contractor staff, residents, and civil servants from various departments to testify.
Senior Counsel Victor Dawes, representing the independent committee, said in his 627-page closing statement in July that the government had an “unshirkable responsibility” for the fire.
Wang Fuk Court on fire in late November 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.One day earlier, a lawyer representing the government urged the committee and the public to differentiate between the “direct cause” of the incident and the authorities’ “regulatory responsibilities.”
The lawyer said renovation contractors and professionals “deliberately cheated” the government.