Deadly industrial building blaze claims life of second Hong Kong firefighter... with no end in sight

The inferno that engulfed an ­industrial building in a densely packed Hong Kong neighbourhood on Tuesday claimed a ­second firefighter’s life on Thursday evening as it ­continued to burn out of control for a third straight day.

The city was stunned by images of more firemen being carried out of the burning Amoycan Industrial Centre in Ngau Tau Kok on stretchers while their colleagues battled the smoke and flames with little progress.

Three firemen were rushed to hospital, where one of them succumbed to his injuries. Senior fireman Samuel Hui Chi-kit, 37, was found unconscious by his teammates on the third floor of the building as they were changing shifts to leave the site at about 7pm. He died at United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong at 9.10pm.

Director of Fire Services David Lai Man-hin said Hui was one of the four members of a breathing apparatus team sent to the third floor.

Meeting the press with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, Lai broke down as he expressed his grief at the loss of his colleagues on Thursday night.

Repeatedly asked by the media whether better commanding and strategies could have avoided the two deaths, a tearful Lai said: “I have been the director for more than two years, and I spent 37 years in the fire services. The most difficult thing for me is to tell their relatives [about the deaths]… No member of the senior management could hope to sacrifice a colleague’s life.”

Hui is survived by his wife and a seven-year-old son.