Buildings still burning this morning
HONG KONG – A huge fire engulfed a Hong Kong residential estate and killed at least 36 people yesterday, with firefighters saying they were blocked from reaching some of the people seeking help.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in a live broadcast that began at 1:18 a.m. that at least 36 people died in the inferno, while 279 were missing and 29 in hospital, including seven in a critical condition.
The fire, which started in the afternoon and was still burning early this morning, was the deadliest in decades in Hong Kong, which has some of the world’s most densely populated and tallest apartment blocks.
Massive flames first took hold on bamboo scaffolding on several apartment blocks of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, which contains nearly 2,000 flats in eight towers and was reportedly undergoing estate-wide maintenance.
Residents heard loud cracking sounds, possibly from the burning bamboo, and saw thick plumes of smoke billowing from the buildings as flames and ash reached high into the sky.
A 65-year-old resident surnamed Yuen said he had lived in the estate for more than four decades and that many of his neighbours were elderly and might not be mobile.
“The windows were closed because of the maintenance, [some people] didn’t know there was a fire and had to be told to evacuate via phone calls by neighbours,” Yuen told AFP.
“I’m devastated, there is loss of property and loss of life, and even a firefighter has died.”
While many people died at the scene, others, including a 37-year-old firefighter, were certified dead at hospital, the government said last night.
Sections of charred scaffolding fell from the burning blocks and flames could be seen inside apartments, sometimes belching out through windows into the night sky, casting an eerie orange glow on surrounding buildings.
“The temperature at the scene is very high and there are some floors where we have been unable to reach people who requested help, but we will keep trying,” said Derek Armstrong Chan, the deputy director of fire service operations.
Speaking in a media briefing some five hours after the blaze started, Chan said scaffolding at Wang Cheong House at Wang Fuk Court caught fire first, and it quickly spread to all but one of the estate’s eight blocks.
Chan described the situation in three of the eight blocks ablaze as severe.
“We received numerous assistance calls from the public, and also debris and scaffolding of the affected buildings are falling down, so they pose additional danger to our frontline personnel,” he said.
“Besides, the temperature inside the buildings concerned are very high. It’s quite difficult for us to enter the building and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations.”
Chan said more than 750 firefighters and paramedics have been deployed in the operation.
He said the fire likely spread from one building to another due to the wind and drifting debris, although he added authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze.
Hong Kong’s hospital authority said 23 people were injured, with six in critical condition and 11 listed as serious.
‘Dare not leave’
A Tai Po resident surnamed So, 57, earlier told AFP near the scene that the fire was “heartbreaking”.
“There’s nothing that can be done about the property. We can only hope that everyone, no matter old or young, can return safely,” So said.
An apartment owner in his 40s who did not want to give his name told AFP that the government needed to help those made homeless by the blaze.
“The fire is not yet under control and I dare not leave, and I don’t know what I can do,” he said.
Residents were seen being evacuated via large coaches, with local media reporting that adjacent blocks were also being cleared.
Authorities set up a casualty hotline and opened two temporary shelters in nearby community centres.
Sections of a nearby highway were also closed by the firefighting operation.
Deadly fires were once a regular scourge in densely populated Hong Kong, especially in poorer neighbourhoods.
However, safety measures have been ramped up in recent decades and such fires have become much less commonplace.
The Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims expressed “deep concern” over scaffolding-related fires, noting similar incidents in April, May and October.
Four people were hospitalised after a separate fire on the bamboo scaffolding of a building in Hong Kong’s central business district last month. – AFP, RTHK, MPD
Thick smoke and flames rise as a major fire engulfs a residential estate at Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong's Tai Po District yesterday afternoon. – AFP
