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 hearth unfold throughout seven high-rise condo buildings in a Hong Kong housing advanced, killing 13 individuals and leaving others nonetheless trapped, the town’s fireplace companies mentioned Wednesday.
9 individuals have been declared useless on the scene and 4 others who have been despatched to the hospital have been later confirmed useless, authorities instructed reporters. A minimum of 15 others have 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.
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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 building netting that had been arrange across the exterior of the housing advanced in Tai Po district, within the New Territories. Data present the housing advanced consisted of eight blocks with virtually 2,000 flats housing about 4,800 individuals.
Video from the scene confirmed a number of buildings shut to one another ablaze, with shiny flames and smoke capturing out of most of the flats’ home windows as evening fell. Authorities mentioned a whole bunch of firefighters, law enforcement officials and paramedics have been deployed, and video confirmed firefighters aiming water on the intense flames from excessive up on ladder vans.
The blaze began mid afternoon and after dusk authorities upgraded it to a stage 5 alarm, the best stage of severity, the Fireplace Companies Division mentioned. The hearth was nonetheless raging late into the evening, and authorities mentioned situations remained very difficult for firefighters.
Flames engulf a constructing.
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Chan Lengthy Hei/AP
“Particles and scaffolding of the affected buildings are falling down,” mentioned Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fireplace Companies (Operations). “The temperature contained in the buildings involved (is) very excessive. It is tough for us to enter the constructing and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations.”
It was not instantly recognized what brought on the hearth. Officers mentioned the hearth began on the exterior scaffolding of one of many buildings and later unfold to contained in the constructing and likewise to close by blocks, probably aided by windy situations. The division mentioned it acquired “quite a few” calls requesting help and a few residents remained trapped as of Wednesday evening native time.
Firefighters deployed 128 fireplace vans and 57 ambulances to the scene.
The useless included one firefighter and one other was being handled for warmth exhaustion, Fireplace Companies 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 have been believed to be aged individuals.
District officers in Tai Po have opened non permanent shelters for individuals left homeless by the hearth.
“I’ve given up fascinated 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 building and renovation tasks, although the federal government mentioned earlier this 12 months that it might begin phasing it out for public tasks due to security issues.
