Tai Po fire: John Lee sidesteps question on investigating gov’t workers for misconduct, vows action after committee report

Hong Kong authorities will “pursue accountability” over the deadly Tai Po blaze after an independent probe committee submits its final report, leader John Lee has said, without commenting on whether government officers will be investigated for misconduct. Chief Executive John Lee at a press conference on January 27, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Lee, speaking ahead of a meeting with the Executive Council, said that the government will act upon the committee’s findings. “The government will, based on its contents, implement comprehensive reforms as soon as possible and pursue accountability,” he said. The fire at Wang Fuk Court broke out on November 26 last year while the estate was undergoing renovation works. The blaze tore through seven of the eight buildings at the government estate, killing 168 people – including one firefighter – and displacing thousands of residents. After that, authorities set up an independent committee, which conducted 30 hearings over four months during which individuals – including the estate’s residents and officials from departments including the Fire Services Department and Buildings Department – testified. The entrance to City Gallery in Central, the venue of a public inquiry into the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire, on March 26, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The hearings concluded in July. The committee’s final report is expected to be submitted to the government this month. Lee was responding to a reporter’s question as to whether the authorities would activate a “Tier II” mechanism to investigate potential accountability issues within the government. According to the Civil Service Bureau, the investigation mechanism may be activated “if a problem occurs in the Government and the problem is serious, or is a widespread or repetitive, systemic one, or there are indications that the relevant head of department or permanent secretary of the policy bureau concerned is implicated in the problem.” Accountability mechanism “Everyone will remember that, when the fire happened, I immediately set up three task forces, one to handle investigation and strengthening of regulations, the second to coordinate fundraising and to provide support, and a third for emergency accommodation and long-term resettlement arrangements for residents,” Lee said on Tuesday. Wang Fuk Court on August 20, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam. Lee also said that he announced reform initiatives in his Policy Address last month, including enhanced regulations on fire services equipment, disciplinary and penalty mechanisms for professionals, and a new tender evaluation system. He did not say whether the civil servant accountability mechanism had been activated. ‘Unshirkable responsibility’ Public hearings into the cause of the Wang Fuk Court blaze have suggested that various government departments, including the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit, the Fire Services Department, Buildings Department, and Labour Department, bore a share of the responsibility for the fire. Senior Counsel Victor Dawes, representing the independent committee, said in July that the government “had an unshirkable responsibility to perform its regulatory role and protect the lives of residents.” The government operated on an honour system depending on the contractors’ self-regulation, “effectively leaving them without oversight,” Dawes said at a hearing in July. Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps Make a one-off donation. James Lee is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press with an interest in culture and social issues. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Journalism from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he witnessed the institution’s transformation over the course of the 2019 extradition bill protests and after the passing of the Beijing-imposed security law. Since joining HKFP in 2023, he has covered local politics, the city’s housing crisis, as well as landmark court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial. He was previously a reporter at The Standard where he interviewed pro-establishment heavyweights and extensively covered the Covid-19 pandemic and Hong Kong’s political overhauls under the national security law. More by James Lee