Seven injured in Ap Lei Chau apartment blaze

Firefighters say it took three hours to put out a blaze at South Horizons in Ap Lei Chau early yesterday because the building's fire hydrant system did not work.

Water had to be pumped all the way up from the ground to Flat B on the 17th floor, where an air conditioner was believed to have caught fire.

Seven people were injured, including a 21-year-old man who lived in the flat, a fireman and a one-month-old boy. A nine-year-old girl and her mother, 32, were in serious condition with burns at Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam last night after being rescued from the 21st floor stairwell.

More than 200 residents of block 10, known as Yee Lai Court, were evacuated when the blaze broke out at 6.12am. Many of them complained the fire alarm was not loud enough and that firefighters took a long time to reach them. With no direct road access to the burning flat, fire engines were seen going through a car park and stopping nearby at the waterfront.

One man, who lives on the 23rd floor, said he was aware of the fire only when his neighbours knocked on the door. "We were very lucky that this wasn't a lot more serious because most people didn't even know there was a fire," he said.

Ann Li, 26, who is pregnant and lives on a lower floor, said she saw an occupant of Flat B run half-naked from his home. She heard the man say he had been using the air conditioner all night to dehumidify his flat and that it had exploded suddenly.

Sanjay Jayaram, 62, who lived opposite Flat B, said the smoke was thick and he could barely breathe. He said the flat's occupant knocked on every door on the 17th floor to alert neighbours.