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Four people were killed and eight others injured in a major fire that broke out in Hong Kong’s Tai Po neighbourhood, with fierce flames spreading across bamboo scaffolding at a housing estate, which has also trapped multiple residents.
Huge plumes of dark smoke are billowing high into the sky from the scene, with the flame having spread to at least three blocks in the estate.
Police said on Wednesday that they had received multiple reports of people trapped in a building where the blaze started, with a man and a woman reportedly unconscious and suffering from burns.
The blaze was initially classified as a No 1 alarm fire but was quickly raised to No 4 by 3.34pm. In Hong Kong, fires are rated on a scale of one to five, with higher numbers indicating greater severity.
Footage from the scene shows bamboo scaffolding outside several flats of the building engulfed in flames, with burning sections of green scaffolding mesh falling to the ground.
Follow our live updates on the fire below.
Reporting by Lo Hoi-ying, Vivian Au, Leopold Chen, Jess Ma and Jeffie Lam.
