At least 36 dead as huge fire rips through Hong Kong housing estate
Flames engulf bamboo scaffolding across seven residential blocks in Wang Fuk Court, with inferno raging for hours
At least 36 people including a firefighter were killed and 279 are still missing after a ferocious blaze ravaged a housing estate in Tai Po yesterday, as scorching flames engulfed bamboo scaffolding and ripped through seven residential blocks.
Some 29 people were hospitalised, with seven in a critical condition, a grim-looking Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu reported in an early morning conference at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin while distraught families, fearing the worst, awaited news in community halls overnight.
Nearly 10 hours after it first broke, the fire was still soaring and snaking through windows unleashing its wrath on scaffolding and green mesh blanketing the buildings that had been under extensive renovations since July last year.
Firefighters said they were unable to reach the roofs of the 31-storey blocks of flats as temperatures had soared to excessive levels.
Major fire in Hong Kong’s Tai Po neighbourhood rages into the night, at least 36 dead, 279 missing
In a late evening statement, President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences and offered his sympathies to the victims’ families and all affected residents as he “called for all-out efforts to extinguish the fire and minimise casualties and losses”.
As residents sought out family members still inside the buildings, a man surnamed Fung looked weary as he said he had no idea if his 80-year-old mother-in-law was still inside her home.