Forty-four people have been killed and 279 others are missing after a ferocious blaze ravaged a housing estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po neighbourhood, with scorching flames ripping through bamboo scaffolding on seven residential blocks.
Among the scores hospitalised, 45 are in a serious condition, according to the Fire Services Department.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu spoke to the public in a press conference at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin early on Thursday, after visiting a community hall the evening before.
Earlier, President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences in a late-evening statement and called for “all-out efforts” to minimise casualties and losses, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The fire was first reported at 2.51pm on Wednesday and soon grew into an inferno, with huge plumes of dark smoke billowing high into the sky at the scene at Wang Fuk Court, and the flames quickly spreading to seven out of eight blocks in the estate.
Police said they received multiple reports of people trapped in the building where the blaze started, with a man and a woman reportedly unconscious and suffering from burns.
The blaze was initially classified as a No 1 alarm fire but was quickly raised to No 4 by 3.34pm and then to the top-level No 5 at 6.22pm. In Hong Kong, fires are rated on a scale of one to five, with higher numbers indicating greater severity.
Footage from the scene shows bamboo scaffolding outside several flats of the building engulfed in flames, with burning sections of green scaffolding mesh falling to the ground.
Such scaffoldings are commonly used for construction and renovation work. A host of possible causes of the fire is being considered as authorities have vowed to mount a full-scale investigation, including a criminal probe.
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