WATCH: Lethal Hong Kong Excessive-Rise Hearth Claims 13 Lives, Dozens Trapped In Tai Po


Hong Kong Hearth Movies: A towering blaze ripped via a high-rise housing property in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Wednesday, killing at the very least 13 folks — together with a firefighter — and leaving a number of residents trapped inside smoke-filled residences.

In accordance with native media studies, the fireplace erupted round 2:50 pm (native time) and quickly climbed the outside of the constructing, fueled by bamboo scaffolding and inexperienced security netting wrapped across the construction for renovation work. Inside minutes, officers escalated the response to a No. 4 alarm, considered one of Hong Kong’s highest emergency alert ranges.

Dramatic visuals from the scene

Add Zee Information as a Most well-liked Supply


Video clips present a number of blocks of the advanced engulfed, with flames capturing upward and thick black smoke billowing from a number of flooring. Firefighters on elevated platforms might be seen struggling to tame the inferno as burning bamboo rained down.

Densely populated neighbourhood

Authorities knowledge exhibits the affected property consists of eight residential towers with almost 2,000 flats — house to greater than 4,800 residents. Tai Po lies within the metropolis’s New Territories, an space filled with high-rise buildings, heightening fears of wider unfold.


Rescue operations nonetheless underway

Emergency companies mentioned groups have been working floor-to-floor to find anybody nonetheless trapped whereas battling hotspots alongside the scaffold-covered façade. Short-term shelters have been opened for households pressured to evacuate.

Authorities have but to disclose what triggered the fireplace, and investigations are persevering with.