At least five killed in tenement blaze
One of the dead is suspected to have jumped off the 16-storey building
At least five people were killed and 43 others injured yesterday after an intense fire broke out in a 60-year-old Yau Ma Tei tenement building that contained 35 guest houses for travellers and subdivided flats.
One of the five killed was suspected to have jumped off the 16-storey building on Jordan Road in a bid to escape the blaze and was found on the first-floor podium, the Fire Services Department said.
Lam Kin-kwan, the Kowloon South divisional commander, said another three victims were discovered in the second-floor public corridor of New Lucky House, while the fifth person killed was found on a staircase between the seventh and eighth floors.
The three men and two women were pronounced dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Kwong Wah Hospital.
Among the dead were Lai Ka-lun, 67, and Tsang Hing-wai, 70, both Hong Kong residents. The other three were a man and a woman in their twenties of nonChinese ethnicity, and a woman with limited identification details.
Forty of the injured were taken to five hospitals while the other three were treated at the scene. Eight of the injured were last night in a critical condition, while three were in a serious condition.
The fire broke out shortly before 8am, when many of the building’s 300 residents were still sleeping. Some residents said the dense smoke made escape difficult and they had to wait more than an hour before they were rescued.
Lam said firefighters found plastic boards and electric wiring installed in the first-floor lobby, which were possibly the source of the fire and dense smoke that spread across different floors.
Firefighters had to conduct rescue operations on multiple floors of the building, which had
A source said some flats contained up to six subdivided units.
The fire was brought under control about an hour after it was reported and was largely put out by 10.30am, authorities said. According to the fire department, about 250 people were evacuated from the building and another 50 residents had fled before emergency personnel arrived.
Police Superintendent Neil Burnett, the Yau Ma Tei divisional commander, said among those fleeing the building were overseas travellers staying in guest houses.
Another source said police received multiple reports claiming the first-floor gym had caught fire, but noted officers would need to investigate further before confirming where the blaze started.
“The gym was reportedly operating when the fire broke out, but it remains uncertain whether there were any clients inside at the time,” he said.
The insider said some residents had passed out in the building’s public areas due to smoke inhalation before they were rescued. “Some residents became trapped in the smokefilled staircases and needed assistance from firefighters who led them to safety,” he said.
Robert Kwong, 90, and his wife had just spent their first night at a guest house on the 10th floor when the fire broke out.
“We huddled together in our room for half an hour before we were evacuated. The firefighters were going around knocking on all the doors, but they had to take care of people on the other side of the building first,” he said
A 51-year-old man surnamed Zhou who works in the service industry said he woke up in a subdivided unit on the sixth floor when the fire broke out, but could not hear the fire alarm.
“I opened the door and it was filled with smoke. I saw an unconscious man lying on the floor so I brought him into my room,” he said, adding the man had come up from lower floors to seek safety. “I quickly wiped his face with a wet towel, gave him water and massaged his acupuncture points with ointment.”
Zhou said the man eventually regained consciousness and his neighbour also came into the room to wait. Firefighters rescued them with a ladder an hour later.
Another resident surnamed Tam, a 60-year-old retiree, said she had been living in a subdivided flat on the 10th floor since 2007 and there had never been a fire. She said she and her neighbours were unable to escape as smoke filled their flats, and they had to wait for more than an hour for firefighters to lead them to a stairwell with less smoke.
“I think I am still in shock,” she said. “My heart is still beating fast.” She recalled there was fire safety equipment in the hallway with checks made on them from time to time.
American tourist Darrin Watson, 58, said he had booked a room on the fifth floor.
My room was getting so smoky. I was thinking I might not make it AMERICAN TOURIST DARRIN WATSON, 58, WHO HAD A ROOM ON THE EIGHTH FLOOR
“My room was getting so smoky. I was thinking I might not make it,” he said. “I put a wet towel on my face and got out. There was a guy [lying] in the hallway. I could only see his feet.”
Watson said he eventually found a stairway with less smoke and escaped the building along with others.
Some residents with mobility issues were only seen leaving the building in the evening.
Chief Executive Lee later visited the injured at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. “I feel very sad about this incident. I give my deepest condolences to the families of those who died and the injured,” he said.
Lee said authorities would also prioritise taking care of the families of the deceased and injured.
The government has set up a temporary shelter at Henry G. Leong Yau Ma Tei Community Centre for residents in need.
Dozens of guest houses, 100 subdivided flats and many commercial premises filled the building where a deadly fire broke out yesterday morning, according to some residents and the Post’s observation.
Authorities said the blaze in New Lucky House on Jordan Road in Yau Ma Tei could have started on the first or second floors in the early hours.
Resident Sarbahoj Limbu said she was asleep when the fire started. She only woke when her father, who left their 14th-floor flat for a morning walk, called her and the rest of the family.
“We all got up and there was smoke everywhere,” the 40-year-old said. “We couldn’t see anything.”
Limbu said she had run down to the 13th floor, but the thick smoke on the lower stories forced her to shelter in a neighbour’s home as they waited for firefighters to take them downstairs.
She said the building was home to a variety of businesses and she sometimes felt the place was “not so safe”.
Authorities said the No 3 alarm fire resulted in five deaths.
A resident in his seventies who only gave his name as Sung said the strong smell of burning plastic in his third-floor flat had woken him and prompted him to rush downstairs. But he realised the risk involved and turned back.
“I sprinted as fast as I could all the way up to the 16th floor. I was heaving and out of breath by the time I got there,” he said.
“I am an old man. I’m not supposed to run like that.”
Sung said he and dozens of others waited on the building’s roof until they were told it was safe to evacuate on their own.
A construction worker surnamed Man, who was based at a site near New Lucky House, said labourers had used a suspended working platform to help residents escape.
“We saw huge smoke coming out of the building when we started working. Some shouted for help on the third floor, while some ran out to the podium on the first floor,” he said.
“We made two ladders for them to come down, and transferred an elderly person to the ground with the platform. It’s life and death. We help when we can.”
The 60-year-old New Lucky House contains more than 200 residential homes and businesses, according to real estate websites.
Lam Kin-kwan, commander of the Fire Services Department’s Kowloon South division, said they included 35 licensed guest houses and “a number of subdivided flats”.
Police Superintendent Neil Burnett, the Yau Ma Tei divisional commander, said among those fleeing the building were overseas travellers staying in guest houses, with some scheduled to fly from Hong Kong that day. “We’re doing all we can to facilitate them to get their luggage and to get on their planes,” he said.
A Post reporter also observed that the building had traditional Chinese medicine clinics, as well as offices and shops.
Power Gymnasium, on the building’s first floor, is known as one of the last remaining “iron plate” style bodybuilding gyms popular throughout the 1970s.
Vincent Cheng Wing-shun, a lawmaker from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said he witnessed about 100 people at a temporary shelter set up for those affected by the fire.
“The building contains a lot of residents and guest houses. I spoke to people from South Korea, Japan and Thailand,” he said. “They know the government is providing assistance.”