Death toll from Hong Kong high-rise residential buildings rises to 13
In Hong Kong, a fire has killed at least 13 people after tearing through a complex of residential high-rise buildings on Wednesday.
Teams of firefighters have been attempting to douse the flames at Wang Fuk Court, a housing complex made up of eight blocks in the city's Tai Po district in the north east, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
"The Fire Services Department handled a total of 28 casualties, nine of whom were certified dead at the scene. Six others were sent to hospital in serious condition, and four of them later died," Chou Wing-yin of the Fire Services Department told a press briefing at around 8:15 p.m. (1215 GMT).
According to local media reports, one of the dead was a firefighter.
The fire department said it received reports at 2:51 p.m. (0651 GMT) of a fire in the residential complex. It was upgraded to a Number 4 alarm at 3:34 p.m. and as night fell it was declared a five-alarm fire, the highest level.
Firefighters deployed 128 fire trucks and 57 ambulances to the scene.
Earlier, local media also reported that an unknown number of people were trapped in the 31-storey towers — housing around 2,000 residential apartments — although it is unclear as to whether that remains the case.
Taipo District Council member, Lo Hiu-fung, told local broadcaster TVB that most of the residents trapped in the fire were believed to be elderly people, the AP news agency reported, although this has not yet been confirmed by authorities.
"The fire is not yet under control and I dare not leave, and I don't know what I can do," a resident told AFP adding that the government needed to help those made homeless by the blaze.
A number of towers currently burning have bamboo scaffolding and construction netting fitted to their exterior.
TVB reported that the complex was undergoing major renovations.
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