Hong Kong politician Peggy Wong files police report amid Tai Po fire scrutiny
Tai Po South district councillor also says she will file ICAC report to probe potential corruption within Wang Fuk Court’s current incorporated owners
A district councillor facing public scrutiny amid Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades has said she will personally file reports with both police and the corruption watchdog to request an investigation.
“The victims, both deceased and injured, have paid with their lives to sound a warning bell for all Hong Kong residents. I will not let their sacrifice be in vain,” she said.
The No 5 fire alarm blaze, the highest level in Hong Kong, broke out on Wednesday afternoon and struck seven of the eight buildings in the complex, claiming at least 151 lives and injuring 79 as of Monday.
Wong served as a consultant to the complex’s incorporated owners last year, when the body passed a resolution in January 2024 to choose Prestige Construction & Engineering Company as the contractor for the complex’s renovation and accepted the firm’s HK$330 million (US$42.4 million) quotation.
The blaze erupted while the complex was undergoing renovation works that started in July last year, with the residential towers covered in bamboo scaffolding and draped with protective green mesh nets, which potentially hastened the spread of the flames.