One dead and two injured in Sham Shui Po fire
Case classified as arson after accelerants found at site
A dead male body was found inside a subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po that caught fire in the early hours of Thursday.
Another man and a woman were injured, sustaining slight burns to their arms and legs in the blaze which took place on the fourth floor of an old building on Yee Kuk Street.
“Fire accelerants were discovered inside the flat. Police are following up on that,” said Choi Wai-fung, Lai Chi Kok fire station commander.
Police received a report about the blaze at 3.53am, and firefighters arrived five minutes later. The blaze was put out at 4.35am. The case is being treated as arson.
The flat in question was seven by 10 metres in size and was divided into five subdivided units.
The victim’s body was found near the door to the flat, while the two injured persons were found at the rear stairway.
A total of 20 residents were evacuated in an operation that saw 10 fire engines mobilised.
RTHK quoted a resident saying they heard a quarrel going on between a man and a woman before the fire was discovered.
A separate blaze broke out in a building on Un Chau Street in Cheung Sha Wan at about 5.30am on Thursday. Twenty-seven people were injured and rushed to different hospitals.
The unit that caught fire was one of four inside a subdivided flat, the Fire Services Department said. It measured three by five metres. Police said initial investigations showed the cause of the fire was not suspicious as it was believed to have been started by cigarette butts.
