A smoky blaze gutted a takeaway and a clothes shop on Rua dos Mercadores in the early hours of yesterday, and a woman came down with dizziness after inhaling smoke from the fire, according to a statement issued by the Fire Services Bureau (CB) yesterday.
The patient, a 29-year-old non-resident worker (NRW) from the mainland who works in a shop next to the takeaway, was taken to the private Kiang Wu Hospital, where her condition was stable, the statement said.
The statement said the fire broke out at around 4 a.m. yesterday in a building at the junction of Rua dos Mercadores and Travessa dos Algibebes, where firefighters noticed smoke coming from the ground floor.
The firefighters immediately pried open the door, and found a fire inside the takeaway, the roof of which had already collapsed, while the blaze had meanwhile spread to a shop next to it, the statement said, adding that the takeaway has a wooden interior structure.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze, the statement said, adding that after inspection, all floors above the ground floor of the takeaway and the floors above the ground floor of the adjacent shop were completely gutted by the blaze, with a total area of about 280 square metres.
The cause of the fire was still being investigated, the statement said, adding that as the safety of the building in question was still being assessed by the Lands and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU), and that taking into account the possible risk of the two old houses collapsing, the firefighters were not able to enter either of them even last night, according to the statement.
Gas stove in kitchen catches fire
A fire broke out in a residential unit in a building in Rua Dois da Cidade Nova de Toi San early yesterday morning, where a 67-year-old female senior citizen suffered multiple burns on her back and other parts of her body, the Fire Services Bureau said in a separate statement yesterday.
The female resident was taken to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, the statement said, adding that she was conscious at the time.
According to the Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) company staff, the fire was suspected to have been caused by a malfunctioning gas stove in the kitchen of the flat.
Upon inspection, the glass door in the living room cracked due to the fire, and the carbon monoxide reading was 16 parts per million (ppm),according to the firemen’s gas detector, which, however, was back to zero after ventilation, the statement said.
Firemen stand in front of the fire-gutted takeaway and clothes shop on Rua dos Mercadores yesterday evening after extinguishing a smoky blaze which broke out on the first floor of the takeaway early in the morning. – Photo: MPDG
