HONG KONG — A major fire tore through multiple high-rise towers at a housing estate in Hong Kong on Wednesday, killing at least 13 people, officials said.
Police received multiple reports of people trapped in the estate, where bamboo scaffolding has been erected outside several towers as they undergo renovation, local media reported.
Five others were injured, three of them critically, in the fire at Wang Fuk Court in the northern district of Tai Po, the Fire Services Department said.
At least one firefighter was killed, Hong Kong’s director of fire services Yeung Yan Kin told a news conference.
Ho Wai-ho, 37, “sustained burns to his face,” Yeung said, adding that he was rushed to a nearby hospital after first aid and CPR was administered. He later died, Yeung said.
“I would like to extend my deepest condolences to firefighter Ho’s family,” he said, adding that another firefighter was being treated in hospital for heat exhaustion, he said.
Firefighters were still battling the blaze several hours later as night fell. At 6:22 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET), it was upgraded to a No. 5 alarm fire, the highest level in the Chinese territory.
Massive flames and thick plumes of dark smoke could be seen coming from multiple towers at the housing complex, which has eight buildings and almost 2,000 residential units.
The blaze was classified as a No. 1 alarm fire when it was first reported at 2:51 p.m., but it was quickly upgraded to a No. 3 alarm fire at 3:02 p.m. and a No. 4 alarm fire at 3:34 p.m., the Fire Services Department said.
The Transport Department said a number of bus routes had been diverted and that sections of some nearby roads had been closed to all traffic.
Hong Kong has been under a red fire danger warning since Monday, which means there is an extremely high risk of fire.
Jay Ganglani contributed.