Fire forces evacuation of New Territories public housing estate

Hundreds of residents in Kwai Chung were evacuated from a public housing estate early yesterday after a fire broke out at a flat there.

Residents said they were awakened by neighbours' shouts for help at around 4.45am when the blaze started.

The flames spewed dark soot from a flat on the third floor at Ying Kwai House on the Kwai Chung Estate.

The flat's window frames were seriously damaged and parts of its exterior wall were blackened. The residents were told to go to the ground level.

"I initially thought it was someone who had gone crazy. Later I heard from other neighbours it was a fire. Then I came out," a woman who lives on the third floor told a local television news broadcast.

Some residents were stranded in their homes and required firefighters to help free them.