Fire in old Hong Kong building kills at least 5, injures 43 others
- One of the victims suspected to have jumped off 16-storey building in Yau Ma Tei in a bid to escape blaze, fire services official says
- Three victims discovered in second-floor corridor, while fifth person killed was found on a staircase between seventh and eighth floors
One of the five killed was suspected to have jumped off the 16-storey building on Jordan Road in Yau Ma Tei in a bid to escape the blaze and was found on the first-floor podium, the Fire Services Department said.
Lam Kin-kwan, the Kowloon South divisional commander, said another three victims were discovered in the second-floor public corridor of New Lucky House, while the fifth person killed was found on a staircase between the seventh and eighth floors.
The three men and two women were pronounced dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Kwong Wah Hospital. Among the dead were Lai Ka-lun, 67, and Tsang Hing-wai, 70, both Hong Kong residents.
The other three were a man and a woman in their 20s of non-Chinese ethnicity, and a woman with limited identification details.
Forty of the injured were taken to five hospitals while the other three were treated at the scene. Eight of the injured remained in a critical condition, while three were in a serious condition.
The fire broke out shortly before 8am, when many of the building’s 300 residents were still sleeping. Some of the residents said the dense smoke made their escape difficult and they had to wait for more than an hour before they were rescued.
Lam said firefighters found plastic boards and electric wiring installed in the first-floor lobby, which were possibly the source of the fire and dense smoke that spread across different floors. Firefighters had to conduct rescue operations on multiple floors of the building, which had 35 registered guest houses, he added.
“Some of the flats have subdivided units so we required additional manpower for rescue efforts,” he said.
Thirty-five fire engines and 24 ambulances were sent to the scene after authorities received a call at 7.53am. More than 210 firefighters and paramedics were deployed.
03:18
Hong Kong fire kills 5, injures dozens in Kowloon commercial and residential building
Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung Yan-kin said his department had set up a task force headed by a senior divisional officer to investigate the cause of the blaze and the reasons behind multiple casualties.
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The Buildings Department said clearance orders were issued on March 19 to the owners of two flats found with violations, requiring them to restore some fire doors and fire-resistant walls.
But it said the orders were not complied with by the deadline and the department would take follow-up actions, including possible prosecution. The two flats were not located on the first and second floors, where the fire was believed to have started.
Police Superintendent Gar Kam-lam of the Kowloon West regional crime unit said officers had launched a criminal investigation to determine whether anyone should be held responsible, adding they would work with government chemists to gather evidence.
He appealed for witnesses and anyone with information to contact officers on 3661 8386.
The blaze was listed as a No 3 alarm fire. In Hong Kong, fires are rated on a scale of one to five according to their seriousness.
People were seen being rescued from Power Gymnasium on the first floor, with police and firefighters later breaking into dozens of flats to search for trapped tenants.
A source said some flats each contained five to six subdivided units.
The fire was brought under control about an hour after it was reported and was largely put out by 10.30am, authorities said.
According to the fire department, about 250 people were evacuated from the building and another 50 residents had fled before emergency personnel arrived.
Police Superintendent Neil Burnett, the Yau Ma Tei divisional commander, said among those fleeing the building were overseas travellers staying in guest houses.
“Some of these people got flights out of the territory [on Wednesday] to other countries,” he said, adding that police did their best to help them retrieve their luggage.
Another source said police received multiple reports claiming the first-floor gym had caught fire, but noted officers would need to investigate further before confirming where the blaze started.
“The gym was reportedly operating when the fire broke out, but it remains uncertain whether there were any clients inside at the time,” he said.
The insider said some residents had passed out in the building’s public areas due to smoke inhalation before they were rescued.
“Some residents became trapped in the smoke-filled staircases and needed assistance from firefighters who led them to safety,” he said.
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A fourth-floor tenant told local media her fire alarm woke her up and she struggled to see because of thick smoke in the room.
“I ran down the stairs to escape, but realised the fire was even worse,” she said.
She added that the flames forced her to rush up to a higher floor and wait for rescue.
Robert Kwong, 90, and his wife had just spent their first night at a guest house on the 10th floor when the fire broke out.
“We huddled together in our room for half an hour before we were evacuated. The firefighters were going around knocking on all the doors, but they had to take care of people on the other side of the building first,” he said
The pair were brought to the shelter, where they decided to book a room at a nearby hotel for the rest of their seven-day stay in Hong Kong.
The pair, both Hongkongers, moved to Foshan in Guangdong province after their retirement 20 years ago, and were back in the city to handle personal matters.
A 51-year-old man surnamed Zhou who works in the service industry said he woke up in a subdivided unit on the sixth floor when the fire broke out, but could not hear the fire alarm.
“I opened the door and it was filled with smoke. I saw an unconscious man lying on the floor so I brought him into my room,” he said, adding the man had come up from lower floors to seek safety.
“I quickly wiped his face with a wet towel, gave him water and massaged his acupuncture points with ointment.”
Zhou said the man eventually regained consciousness and his neighbour also came into the room to wait. Firefighters rescued them via a ladder an hour later.
Another resident surnamed Tam, a 60-year-old retiree, said she had been living in a subdivided flat on the 10th floor since 2007 and there had never been a fire.
She said she and her neighbours were unable to escape as smoke filled their flats, and they had to wait for more than an hour for firefighters to lead them to a stairwell with less smoke.
“I think I am still in shock,” she said. “My heart is still beating fast.”
She recalled there was fire safety equipment in the hallway and people ran checks from time to time.
American tourist Darrin Watson, 58, said he had booked a room on the fifth floor of the New Lucky House.
“My room was getting so smoky. I was thinking I might not make it,” he said. “I put a wet towel on my face and got out. There was a guy [lying] in the hallway. I could only see his feet.”
Watson said he eventually found a stairway with less smoke and escaped the building along with others.
Some residents with mobility issues were only seen leaving the building in the evening.
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City leader Lee later visited the injured at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
“I feel very sad about this incident. I give my deepest condolences to the families of those who died and the injured,” he said.
Lee said one of the priorities for the government was to investigate the cause of the blaze, with fire services, police and other relevant departments tasked with the work. He said the other priorities included taking care of the families of the deceased and injured.
The Buildings Department said a clearance order was issued on March 19 to the owners of several units found with violations, requiring them to restore some fire doors and fire-resistant walls. But it said the orders were not complied with by the deadline and the department would take follow-up actions, including possible prosecution.
The government has set up a temporary shelter at Henry G Leong Yaumatei Community Centre for residents in need.
The Transport Department said all lanes on Jordan Road in the direction of Hung Hom were closed to traffic, in addition to all Tsim Sha Tsui-bound lanes along Nathan Road.
Exit B1 at the Jordan MTR station was temporarily closed.
New Lucky House was built in 1964. District councillor Chris Ip Ngo-tung said the building had about 100 subdivided flats.
The building remained cordoned off at 9.30pm, while a registration counter was set up to record residents’ information to retrieve their belongings once it reopened.
Additional reporting by Harvey Kong and Olga Wong
