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Firefighters work to extinguish a fireplace which broke out at Wang Fuk Courtroom, a residential property within the Tai Po district of Hong Kong’s New Territories, Wednesday, Nov. 26 2025.
Chan Lengthy Hei/AP
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Chan Lengthy Hei/AP
A fireplace unfold throughout seven high-rise condo buildings in a Hong Kong housing complicated, killing 13 individuals and leaving others nonetheless trapped, the town’s fireplace providers stated Wednesday.
9 individuals had been declared useless on the scene and 4 others who had been despatched to the hospital had been later confirmed useless, authorities instructed reporters. Not less than 15 others had been injured, and about 700 individuals have been evacuated to non permanent shelters.
Smoke rises after a fireplace broke out at Wang Fuk Courtroom, a residential property within the Tai Po district of Hong Kong’s New Territories on Wednesday, Nov. 26 2025.
Chan Lengthy Hei/AP
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Chan Lengthy Hei/AP
The raging fireplace despatched up a column of flames and thick smoke because it unfold shortly on bamboo scaffolding and development netting that had been arrange across the exterior of the housing complicated in Tai Po district, within the New Territories. Information present the housing complicated consisted of eight blocks with virtually 2,000 residences housing about 4,800 individuals.
Video from the scene confirmed a number of buildings shut to one another ablaze, with vibrant flames and smoke taking pictures out of most of the residences’ home windows as evening fell. Authorities stated lots of of firefighters, law enforcement officials and paramedics had been deployed, and video confirmed firefighters aiming water on the intense flames from excessive up on ladder vehicles.
The blaze began mid afternoon and after dusk authorities upgraded it to a stage 5 alarm, the best stage of severity, the Fireplace Providers Division stated. The hearth was nonetheless raging late into the evening, and authorities stated situations remained very difficult for firefighters.
Flames engulf a constructing.
Chan Lengthy Hei/AP
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Chan Lengthy Hei/AP
“Particles and scaffolding of the affected buildings are falling down,” stated Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fireplace Providers (Operations). “The temperature contained in the buildings involved (is) very excessive. It is troublesome for us to enter the constructing and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations.”
It was not instantly identified what precipitated the fireplace. Officers stated the fireplace began on the exterior scaffolding of one of many buildings and later unfold to contained in the constructing and likewise to close by blocks, seemingly aided by windy situations. The division stated it obtained “quite a few” calls requesting help and a few residents remained trapped as of Wednesday evening native time.
Firefighters deployed 128 fireplace vehicles and 57 ambulances to the scene.
The useless included one firefighter and one other was being handled for warmth exhaustion, Fireplace Providers Division Director Andy Yeung instructed reporters.
Lo Hiu-fung, a Taipo District Council member, instructed native TV station TVB earlier Wednesday that many of the residents trapped within the fireplace had been believed to be aged individuals.
District officers in Tai Po have opened non permanent shelters for individuals left homeless by the fireplace.
“I’ve given up interested by my property,” a resident who solely supplied his surname, Wu, instructed TVB. “Watching it burn like that was actually irritating.”
Tai Po is a suburban space within the New Territories, within the northern a part of Hong Kong and close to the border with the mainland Chinese language metropolis of Shenzhen.
Bamboo scaffolding is a standard sight in Hong Kong at constructing development and renovation tasks, although the federal government stated earlier this 12 months that it could begin phasing it out for public tasks due to security issues.
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