Residents of fire-hit Hong Kong building allowed back after cordon lifted but some decide not to return home
- Residents of New Lucky House in Yau Ma Tei face blackened and burned flats, debris and exposed electrical wiring
- Major fire on Wednesday killed five people and injured 43 others
The grim conditions in the 60-year-old New Lucky House in densely populated Yau Ma Tei were revealed after a cordon was lifted at the building hit by an intense fire on Wednesday. The blaze in the 16-storey property also injured 43 others.
The fire caused severe damage from the first to the fourth floors of the Jordan Road building and left charred corridors, scattered ash and debris, as well as exposed steel bars and electrical wiring.
With no electricity supply on the four floors yet, temporary lights were set up along the corridors.
Pillars were damaged in the first floor private Power Gymnasium and some equipment also had burn marks.
Piles of rubbish littered different floors with some blocking the back stairs. A mattress was left leaning on the seventh floor with four discarded cigarette butts.