Six remain in hospital after Quarry Bay fire

Six people remained in hospital on Thursday after a fire at a residential building in Quarry Bay left 100 residents homeless.

Part of the 25-storey Chung Hing Mansion on King’s Road was still cordoned off on Thursday as firemen searched for clues to how the blaze began on Wednesday around 10pm.

Eight people were sent to hospital for smoke inhalation. Six remained in stable condition on Thursday, while two were discharged.

The blaze was graded a No 4 fire – the second-most serious rating under the city’s five-tier classification.

Six water jets and 10 teams of firefighters with breathing apparatus were sent to combat the blaze, which was put out shortly before 3am.

The flames affected several storeys of the building – between the first and fifth floors and the seventh to eleventh floors, a Fire Services commander said on Thursday.

Firefighters had to evacuate a large number of residents at one time, he said.

The building was being renovated under the Housing Society’s Operation Building programme, and was covered in scaffolding and safety netting.

It was the city’s first No 4 fire alarm since last November’s blaze in Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok, in which nine people died.