By Tyrone Siu and Joyce Zhou
HONG KONG (Reuters) -At least four people have died and an unknown number are trapped after a massive fire engulfed multiple high-rise towers of a residential complex in Hong Kong's northern Tai Po district on Wednesday, the government and Fire Services Department said.
Firefighters battled the blaze as dusk fell, with thick black smoke billowing from the 31-storey towers and orange flames lighting up the night sky.
The Wang Fuk Court housing complex, where the fire started, is home to 2,000 residential apartments. The Fire Services Department told Reuters it does not yet have a figure for the number of people who may still be inside.
One resident surnamed Wong, 71, broke down in tears, saying his wife was trapped inside one of the buildings.
Three people are in critical condition having suffered burns and one is in serious condition, the government said, while others including some fire services staff have also been injured.
BUILDINGS SURROUNDED BY SMOKE AND FLAMES
People gathered on a nearby overhead walkway, watching in dismay as smoke billowed from the buildings, some of which were clad in bamboo scaffolding, with local media reporting the units were under renovation.
Frames of scaffolding were seen tumbling to the ground as firefighters battled the blaze, while scores of fire engines and ambulances lined the road below the complex, according to Reuters witnesses.
Wang Fuk Court is one of many high-rise housing complexes in Hong Kong, which is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Tai Po, located near the border with mainland China, is an established suburban district with a population of about 300,000.
The complex is under the government's subsidised home ownership scheme. It has been occupied since 1983, according to property agency websites.
Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world where bamboo is still widely used for scaffolding in construction.
The government moved to start phasing out the city’s use of its bamboo scaffolding in March, citing safety. It announced that 50% of public construction works would be required to use metal frames instead.
The fire department said it received reports at 2:51 p.m. (0651 GMT) that a fire had broken out in Wang Fuk Court. It was upgraded to a No. 5 alarm, the highest, at 6:22 p.m.
Hong Kong's Transport Department said that due to the fire an entire section of the Tai Po road, one of Hong Kong's two main highways, has been closed and buses are being diverted.
Five people died after a fire broke out in a densely populated residential building in Hong Kong's bustling Kowloon district in April last year.
(Reporting by Joyce Zhou, Tyrone Siu, Jessie Pang, Anne Marie Roantree, Clare Jim and Greg Torode; Writing by Farah Master; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Sharon Singleton)
