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A fire ravaged a highrise Hong Kong housing complex on Wednesday, killing four people and leaving others trapped inside, authorities said.
The Hong Kong government reported four deaths and said three other people were hospitalized. Two of the injured were in critical condition and the other person was stable, a brief statement said.
Hong Kong media said that one of the deceased was a firefighter, but that could not be immediately confirmed.
Smoke rises and surrounds multiple buildings in the residential complex as night begins to fall Wednesday in Tai Po district. (Chan Long Hei/The Associated Press)
Wang Fuk Court is a housing complex made up of eight blocks, providing close to 2,000 residential units. Several towers have bamboo scaffolding on their exterior.
Police said they had received multiple reports of people trapped in the affected buildings.
The raging fire sent up a column of flames and thick smoke as it spread on bamboo scaffolding that had been set up around the exterior of the complex in the city’s Tai Po district. Live video from the scene showed firefighters aiming water at the intense flames from high up on ladder trucks.
The blaze was reported mid-afternoon and upgraded to a No. 4 alarm fire, the second highest level of severity, the Fire Services Department said.
First responders are shown Wednesday directing activities around the response to the Wang Fuk Court. (Chan Long Hei/The Associated Press)
Tai Po is a suburban area in the New Territories, in the northern part of Hong Kong and near the border with the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong at building construction and renovation projects, though the government said earlier this year that it would start phasing it out for public projects because of safety concerns.
