According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the alarm was raised around 2:20 AM (6:00 PM Sunday in Lisbon) about thick smoke coming from a 33rd-floor apartment in the Tai Yuan building in the Tsuen Wan area of the New Territories.
Firefighters forced open the apartment door and rescued a 63-year-old resident, surname Chan, who had taken refuge in the bathroom. The elderly woman was taken to Princess Margaret Hospital. A police source cited by the SCMP stated that the woman may have lit a candle before falling asleep, and the flame spread to other objects in the home.
The fire was extinguished while over 150 residents were advised by firefighters to wait on the ground floor of the housing complex until the situation was under control. This is the second fire to affect public housing in Hong Kong within two days.
On Sunday, at least one person died and eight were injured in a fire that struck the Mei Yue building in the Shek Kip Mei area of Kowloon, in the central region. Local press reports indicate that firefighters believe an electrical short circuit may have caused the flames, which forced the evacuation of over 270 residents from the social neighborhood.
Interim Chief of the Fire Services Department, Yip Kam-kong, stated that the fire-fighting equipment was functioning properly in the building, denying reports of a defective fire hose on the 21st floor. Yip added that firefighters found no irregularities in fire safety equipment.
On November 26, a fire in the Wang Fuk Court social housing area in Tai Po, northern Hong Kong, resulted in the deaths of 161 people and left thousands homeless. The Wang Fuk Court fire started when a net covering bamboo structures on one of the buildings, part of renovation work, ignited. The fire quickly spread to the rest of the complex, affecting six other towers.
Given the magnitude of the tragedy, the local government established an independent inquiry commission, headed by a magistrate, to clarify the causes of the fire’s outbreak and rapid spread.
Simultaneously, the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong detained the current president of the residents’ association of Wang Fuk Court, as well as the predecessor, as part of the investigation into the disaster.
The Public Prosecutor is investigating over a dozen individuals connected to the fire, under suspicion of committing homicide by negligence, including directors and an engineering consultant from the construction company responsible for the works.
Platform with Lusa
