Receipts attached 5 sources

Sources

  1. Other source

    Report expected Thursday

    South China Morning Post

    Timing and expectations attributed to unnamed sources

  2. Other source

    Closing submission of counsel

    Independent Committee

    Counsel arguments, not final committee findings

  3. Other source

    HKFP report on closing submission

    Hong Kong Free Press

    Counsel criticisms and death toll

  4. Other source

    Chief Executive on accountability

    Hong Kong Free Press

    Lee statement and unanswered disciplinary question

  5. Other source

    Wang Fuk Court photograph

    Wikimedia Commons

    Max Bates; CC BY-SA 4.0; contextual photograph

Limits

Thursday submission and next-week redacted publication are reported by SCMP citing unnamed sources, not official announcements. Counsel’s closing arguments are not the committee’s final findings. This is a November 2025 contextual photograph, not an image of the expected report.

Corrections

No correction notes have been added for this article.

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The independent committee investigating the Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po is expected to submit its final report to the Hong Kong government on Thursday, October 22, the South China Morning Post reported, citing sources. The committee has not yet published its findings.

The fire on November 26, 2025, killed 168 people and displaced thousands. The inquiry, chaired by Justice David Lok, concluded its public hearings in July after hearing from residents, contractors and government officials.

What counsel said, and what the committee has yet to say

In a 627-page closing submission, the committee’s lead counsel, Victor Dawes SC, said the government had an “unshirkable responsibility” to regulate the renovation works and protect residents. He identified shortcomings involving the Fire Services Department, Buildings Department, Labour Department and the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit. Those are counsel’s conclusions, not yet the committee’s published findings.

Dawes said the consultant, Will Power Architects, and the main contractor, Prestige Construction & Engineering, should be “completely condemned” over their roles in the works. He argued that non-fire-retardant mesh was used after compliant mesh was damaged by typhoons and that the regulatory system missed serious hazards. The government’s counsel argued during the hearings that contractors had deceived officials.

SCMP reported that the panel is expected to broadly follow Dawes’s conclusions and that a redacted public version of the report could be released next week at the earliest. Both points rest on unnamed sources and remain unconfirmed until the committee or government makes an announcement. Redactions may be needed because criminal proceedings are ongoing.

Accountability after the report

Chief Executive John Lee said on October 6 that the government would implement reforms and “pursue accountability” after receiving the report. He did not say whether a civil service misconduct investigation had begun.

The immediate test is what the committee itself concludes, how much of its report the public can read, and whether the administration names any officials for disciplinary action. Submission to the government will not, by itself, answer those questions.