The violent fire that devastated seven of the 8 residential towers of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po in Hong Kong has so far caused a total of 55 deaths, of which 4 after emergency hospitalization. It is the latest bulletin released by the firefighters of the former British colony during a briefing. Flames engulfed bamboo scaffolding in all eight blocks of an apartment complex. There would be numerous other residents trapped inside.
Huge columns of dark smoke rose into the sky at the scene of the accident at Wang Fuk Court, and flames quickly spread to at least four blocks in the area and eventually spread to the entire outbreak.
Seven of the eight buildings are still on fire
Seven of the eight buildings in the Wang Fuk Court residential complex, in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong where the earthquake broke out, are still on fire. This was stated by Chou Wing Yin, deputy head of the ambulance service, in a press conference on Wednesday evening cited by CNN. These are buildings in a public housing complex, made up of almost 2,000 apartments where, according to the latest census data reported by CNN, there are more than 4,600 residents, including many elderly people.
Residents: ‘The fire alarms didn’t go off’
According to residents, the fire alarms did not go off before the fire broke out in several buildings of a residential complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, even though the structures were equipped with them. The South China Moring Post reports this, citing people who were present at the time of the incident, such as Chan Kwong-tak, an 83-year-old pensioner who lives in the community.
“If anyone was sleeping at the time, they were done for,” he explained, adding that the residents had to flee on their own. Former district councilor Herman Yiu Kwan-ho told the South China Moring Post that residents say the alarms did not go off, even after they smelled something burning, and that they were only alerted when a security guard knocked on their doors, leaving them little time to evacuate.