On Wednesday, Hong Kong’s Fire Services Department deployed 767 firefighters at one point to tackle the deadly blaze that engulfed seven high rise apartment buildings killing at least 13 people, including a firefighter. Photo by Leung Man Hei/EPA
Nearly 40 people are dead and hundreds still missing in Hong Kong following a massive high-rise fire Wednesday that hit multiple buildings in the small Chinese territory. Officials increased its classification to a more serious Category 5 event.
New reports indicated at least 36 are now dead, with at least 279 still missing in the Tai Po area housing estate, the South China Morning Post, the BBC and CNN reported.
Officials added at least 29 remain hospitalized with seven in critical condition after fire engulfed seven high-rise buildings in a housing development.
More than 750 firefighters at one point reportedly battled flames. It’s the first Level 5 fire reported in Hong Kong in nearly 20 years, according to the BBC.
The fire continued to roar more than 10 hours after the blaze erupted just before 3 p.m. local time at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, 12 miles north of downtown Hong Kong.
How the fire started was not immediately clear, but local officials pointed to bamboo scaffolding erected around the buildings for the work on the complex, built in 1983, which enabled the blaze to rapidly spread.
Firefighters were unable to reach the top of the 31-story structure. The Wang Fuk Court comprises an eight-block area with more 1,900 flats for an estimated 4,000 residents.
Former district councilman Herman Yiu Kwan-ho said earlier in the day that eight seniors and two babies were among 13 people who remained trapped. One of the dead was a 37-year-old firefighter, part of a company from nearby Sha Tin who were among the first on the scene after the blaze erupted.
Authorities initially stated that 15 people had been injured. Earlier reports said of the nine people taken to two area hospitals, four were dead and three in a critical condition, adding that one was in a serious condition and one listed as “stable.”
Initially, it was categorized as a Level 4 fire with footage and images depicting the inferno engulfing multiple adjacent buildings at the development, which had been undergoing major construction work.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said he felt “extreme grief” over the death of the firefighter and sent his “deepest condolences” to the families of all those who had lost their lives and the injured.
As night fell, with firefighters still battling to bring the blaze under control, the Fire Service Department raised the alert to its maximum No. 5 alarm.
Bamboo is the standard material for scaffolding in Hong Kong’s construction industry and across much of Asia due its strength and light weight, although the Hong Kong government has been trying to move away from the practice due to worries about safety.
One resident told the media he rushed back from work to witness the buildings “catch on fire one by one.”
Residents of buildings close to Wang Fuk Court evacuated to temporary emergency shelters and a large exclusion zone was in force around the site with roads closed and all transport diverted.
In a news release, Hong Kong’s government confirmed earlier in the day that heads of relevant territory departments were meeting.
