HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong leader John Lee apologized Thursday and said his housing secretary resigned after an investigation into the city’s deadliest fire in decades found inadequate regulatory oversight.

The massive fire that broke out last November engulfed seven buildings in an apartment complex in a northern suburban district, killing 168 people and displacing thousands of others.

Many former residents of Wang Fuk Court have spent nearly a year waiting to see how the government will address accountability for the disaster that claimed their loved ones and their homes, which were then undergoing building maintenance work.