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.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong’s fire service said nine people were declared dead at the scene and four others who were sent to hospital later died.<\/p>\n
Another 15 people were injured and two remained hospitalised in serious conditions.<\/p>\n
About 700 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Records seen by AP showed the complex was home to some 4,800 residents.<\/p>\n
The fire service told Reuters it does not yet have a figure for the number of people who may still be inside.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fires continued to burn on Wednesday evening in Hong Kong. (Reuters: Tyrone Siu)<\/p>\n
Deputy director of fire services operations, Derek Armstrong Chan, said the debris and scaffolding was falling from the buildings.<\/p>\n
“The temperature inside the buildings concerned (is) very high. It’s difficult for us to enter the building and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations,” he said.<\/p>\n
The fire department said it first received reports at 2:50pm, local time, that a fire had broken out in Wang Fuk Court.<\/p>\n
People gathered on a nearby overhead walkway, watching in dismay as smoke billowed from the buildings, some of which were clad in bamboo scaffolding.<\/p>\n
Wang Fuk Court is one of many high-rise housing complexes in Hong Kong, which is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wang Fuk Court residents and Tai Po district locals could only watch as the buildings burned.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 (AP Photo: Chan Long Hei)<\/p>\n
The district of Tai Po, located near the border with mainland China, has a population of about 300,000.<\/p>\n
Local television broadcaster TVB said the complex was undergoing major renovations.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Firefighters deployed 128 fire trucks and 57 ambulances to the scene.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 (Reuters: Tyrone Siu)<\/p>\n
District officials in Tai Po have opened temporary shelters for people left homeless by the fire.<\/p>\n
“I’ve given up thinking about my property,” a resident who only provided his surname, Wu, told TVB.<\/p>\n
“Watching it burn like that was really frustrating.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Residents were treated by medical staff at emergency shelters. (Reuters: Tyrone Siu)<\/p>\n
Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world where bamboo is still widely used for scaffolding in construction.<\/p>\n
The government said earlier this year it would look to phase out the use of bamboo in public construction projects because of safety risks.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong’s Transport Department said that, due to the fire, an entire section of the Tai Po Road \u2014 one of Hong Kong’s two main highways \u2014 has been closed, and buses are being diverted.<\/p>\n
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