At Least 13 Dead in Fire at Hong Kong High-Rises

A fire spread across seven high-rise apartment buildings in a Hong Kong housing complex Wednesday, killing at least 13 people, including a firefighter, and leaving others still trapped. Authorities said nine people were declared dead at the scene and four others who were sent to the hospital were later confirmed dead, the AP reports. At least 15 people were injured, some of them critically. The raging fire sent up a column of flames and thick smoke as it spread quickly on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting that had been set up around the exterior of the housing complex in Tai Po district in the New Territories.

Renovations had been underway for months at the Wang Fuk Court housing estate, which has eight towers and almost 2,000 apartments, housing around 4,800 people, RTHK reports. About 700 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters. Video from the scene showed multiple buildings close to each other ablaze, with bright flames and smoke shooting out of many of the apartments' windows as night fell. Firefighters were aiming water at the intense flames from high up on ladder trucks. The fire, which started mid-afternoon, was still raging late into the night, with 128 fire engines and almost 800 firefighters at the scene.

Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of fire services, urged trapped residents to use wet towels or plastic tape to seal their windows, the South China Morning Post reports. He said high temperatures have prevented firefighters from reaching apartments on upper floors but they will "keep trying." "Debris and scaffolding of the affected building are falling down, posing additional danger to our frontline personnel," he said. Chan Kwong-yan, 83, told the Post the fire alarms failed to go off after the fire broke out. "If someone was sleeping then, they were done," he said. Chan said his complaints about the quality of the construction, and workers smoking, had long been ignored.