Fire, explosions at Hong Kong public housing estate: one woman dead

A woman died in a fire at a Hong Kong public housing estate in the early hours of this morning.

Firefighters rescued the woman, aged in her 40s, from a flat on the 28th floor of Sui Lok House on the Siu Sai Wan Estate in Chai Wan about half an hour after the fire was reported at 12.20am.

The unconscious woman was rushed to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, where she was declared dead at 1.41am.

About 500 residents rushed downstairs from their homes as they watched the woman’s flat become engulfed in flames and thick smoke. Explosions were also heard.

Firefighters took more than an hour to extinguish the blaze, which was put out at 1.44am.