Overview
- Search operations across all seven towers are complete, with 159 confirmed dead, roughly 31 still listed as missing, and dozens treated in hospitals.
- Police and anti‑graft investigators have arrested 21 people linked to renovation and fire‑safety work, and the city’s leader has ordered a judge‑led committee to probe causes, procurement and possible bid‑rigging.
- Officials are stripping exterior mesh from hundreds of active maintenance sites by Saturday after tests found several samples from Wang Fuk Court failed fire‑safety standards.
- Authorities say polystyrene boards used to block windows helped the flames race between flats as malfunctioning alarms left residents trapped while the fire spread across seven towers.
- Security services have detained critics and pushed volunteers from donation hubs as the government centralizes aid distribution and warns against activities deemed seditious.