At least 13 people have died and others remain trapped after a massive fire engulfed multiple high-rise towers of a residential complex in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s fire service said nine people were declared dead at the scene and four others who were sent to hospital later died.

Another 15 people were injured and two remained hospitalised in serious conditions.

About 700 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters.

Firefighters continued to battle the blaze as dusk fell, with thick black smoke billowing from the 31-storey towers, home to 2,000 residential apartments.

The fire service told Reuters it does not yet have a figure for the number of people who may still be inside.

Records seen by AP showed the complex was home to some 4,800 residents.

The fire department said it first received reports at 2:50pm, local time, that a fire had broken out in Wang Fuk Court.

People gathered on a nearby overhead walkway, watching in dismay as smoke billowed from the buildings, some of which were clad in bamboo scaffolding.

Red fire trucks sit in the street as firefighters walk past while others shoot water at large buildings in the background

Several ambulances and firefighting teams attended the scene.

  (Reuters: Tyrone Siu)

The fire broke out in Wang Fuk Court, one of many high-rise housing complexes in Hong Kong, which is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

The district of Tai Po, located near the border with mainland China, has a population of about 300,000.

Local television broadcaster TVB said the complex was undergoing major renovations.

Lo Hiu-fung, a Taipo District Council member, earlier told TVB that most of the residents trapped in the fire were believed to be elderly people.

A woman sits in a silver blanket next to a man in a red blanket in a shelter

Residents were treated by medical staff at emergency shelters. (Reuters: Tyrone Siu)

District officials in Tai Po have opened temporary shelters for people left homeless by the fire.

“I’ve given up thinking about my property,” a resident who only provided his surname, Wu, told TVB.

“Watching it burn like that was really frustrating.”

Wang Fuk Court is a complex under the government’s subsidised home ownership scheme. It has been occupied since 1983, according to the property’s website.

A man watches three apartment blocks which are on fire at night against a black sky

Fires continued to burn on Wednesday evening in Hong Kong. (Reuters: Tyrone Siu)

Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world where bamboo is still widely used for scaffolding in construction.

The government said earlier this year it would look to phase out the use of bamboo in public construction projects because of safety risks.

Five people died after a fire broke out in a densely populated residential building in Hong Kong’s bustling Kowloon district in April last year.

Hong Kong’s Transport Department said that, due to the fire, an entire section of the Tai Po Road — one of Hong Kong’s two main highways — has been closed, and buses are being diverted.

Reuters/AP