An independent committee set up to probe the cause of last November’s deadly Tai Po fire has decided that it will not be converted into a commission of inquiry with statutory powers to summon witnesses, chairperson David Lok has said. Judge David Lok on March 20, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP Lok, a High Court judge, said that substantial evidence had already been collected and witnesses’ cooperation might not be guaranteed, even if they are summoned, local media reported.
The public hearings resumed from a month-long hiatus on Monday. Lok also said that Chief Executive John Lee had requested that the hearings be completed within nine months. Some construction works linked to firms involved in the hearings have been suspended while insurance pay-outs await the committee’s report, he added.
Besides, the concerns of the survivors and public must also be considered, Lok said. Prolonged hearings would mean “justice delayed.”
Pointing to the Grenfell Tower fire in the UK, he said the investigation took nine years to complete after the blaze broke out in 2017, while the trial is not expected to take place until 2029.
“Our commission does not wish for, and will not allow, such a thing to happen,” he said in Cantonese.
“The committee will not recommend that the Chief Executive convert it into a Commission of Inquiry,” he said, adding that the hearings will proceed as usual.
Hong Kong leader John Lee ordered the independent committee to be formed in December, days after the blaze broke out at Wang Fuk Court on November 26 last year, killing 168 people.
Statutory powers
Unlike a statutory commission formed under the Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance, the probe committee in its current form does not have statutory powers to summon witnesses and demand evidence, with hearings constituting judicial proceedings.
Such inquiries have been invoked in the past to probe a lead drinking water scandal in 2016 and the 2012 Lamma Island ferry collision . A kite near Wang Fuk Court on January 30, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Lok also said on Monday that witnesses might not cooperate if they were already facing criminal prosecution.
Earlier this month, Hong Kong authorities charged seven people and two firms that oversaw renovation works at Wang Fuk Court with manslaughter and a slew of other offences.
The police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) charged three directors and employees at Prestige Construction & Engineering, the main contractor for mandatory renovation works at the government-managed estate, and Will Power Architects, the consultancy firm overseeing the project.
The directors of the two firms refused to testify at the public hearings over the fire.
The ICAC said the Wang Fuk Court blaze and the tragedies that followed were “fuelled entirely by individual greed.”
Will Power director Wong Hap-yin, its registered inspector Wilson Ng, and Prestige Construction director Ho Kin-yip were denied bail and the case has been adjourned to September 2 for the next court mention.