(toskanews) – Enormous flames, a very high column of smoke. More than 700 firefighters are busy trying to put out the fire that broke out in some residential buildings in Hong Kong. At least 13 dead.
“We have so far rescued 28 injured people, nine of whom were declared dead on the spot, six were transported to hospital in serious condition and four of them were declared dead in hospital,” explained Chou Wing-yin, of the Hong Kong Fire Brigade Department.
Some witnesses reported people trapped inside the buildings. The fire was classified as level five, the most serious in Hong Kong. The fire engulfed at least three buildings in Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, a neighborhood in the northern part of the Chinese financial center, where hundreds of people live. A 37-year-old firefighter also lost his life during the rescue operations who was trying to fight the flames. Some sections of the nearby motorway were also closed to allow firefighting operations.
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED