Hong Kong authorities have filed charges against two companies and seven individuals over the deadly blaze at the Wang Fuk housing complex last November.
The accused are facing 25 counts, including manslaughter, conspiracy to defraud, attempting to pervert the course of justice, and tax evasion.
The inferno claimed 168 lives, making it Hong Kong’s worst fire disaster in more than seven decades.
Officials said those charged include the project consultancy firm, the main contractor, directors from both companies, and the registered inspector linked to the renovation project.
Authorities, however, have not disclosed the identities of the companies or individuals involved.
Following the tragedy last year, Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency arrested two directors of the structural engineering consultancy, Will Power Architects, which had been connected to the development.
Earlier reports had also identified Prestige Construction and Engineering Company as the registered contractor handling the renovation works.
An independent panel probing the incident uncovered multiple safety violations that contributed to the scale of the disaster, which also displaced thousands of residents.
Investigators found that fire alarm systems in seven of the eight residential blocks had been switched off, while windows were covered with highly flammable foam boards.
“On the day of the fire, nearly all fire safety systems meant to protect lives failed because of human factors,” the committee’s lead lawyer Victor Dawes told a public inquiry earlier this year.
Some residents additionally alleged that construction workers frequently discarded still-lit cigarette butts around the site.
Police revealed in March that 35 suspects had been arrested over allegations linked to manslaughter and fraud.
Separately, the anti-graft agency detained 23 other individuals, among them consultants, contractors, and members of the complex’s owners’ corporation.
Authorities have yet to clarify how many of those arrested remain in custody or have formally been charged.
As public outrage intensified after the tragedy, both Hong Kong and Beijing officials warned media organisations against spreading what they described as “false information” or attempts to “smear” the government’s handling of the incident.
More than a week after the fire, Beijing’s national security office in Hong Kong arrested columnist Wong Kwok-ngon, accusing him of publishing “seditious” material regarding the government’s response in a bid to “provoke hatred” against authorities.
