1 dead, 8 injured in Hong Kong housing estate fire as more than 250 evacuated
A power failure may have sparked the fire at a Hong Kong public housing estate that killed a man, injured eight others, and forced more than 250 residents to evacuate. Officers from the Fire Services Department said the flat on the 21st floor was cluttered with miscellaneous items, while dense smoke filling the corridors complicated…
A power failure may have sparked the fire at a Hong Kong public housing estate that killed a man, injured eight others, and forced more than 250 residents to evacuate.
Officers from the Fire Services Department said the flat on the 21st floor was cluttered with miscellaneous items, while dense smoke filling the corridors complicated efforts to put out the blaze at Mei Yu House in Shek Kip Mei Estate, Kowloon.
“We are still investigating the cause of the fire. We will comprehensively look into the causes, including the direction of power failure,” the department’s acting assistant divisional officer, Yip Kam-kong, said.
He added that officers had found no irregularities in the building’s fire safety equipment, including on the 21st floor.
Officers said they received multiple reports from 8.04am on Sunday of thick smoke billowing from the flat. Ninety-one firefighters were deployed, and the blaze was largely under control by 8.54am.
Firefighters found the body of a man inside the affected flat. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
