Tourists rescued from fire

More than 80 mainland visitors were evacuated from a Causeway Bay hotel yesterday after a fruit shop below was set on fire in a suspected arson attack.

The blaze broke out in the ground-floor Wah Fu fruit shop in the 20-storey Guang Dong Tours Building in Yee Wo Street at about 12.30am.

Central divisional officer Ho Tsan-cheung from the Fire Services Department said 81 mainland tourists were in the Guangdong Tours Hotel between the fourth and 19 floors.

The blaze was raised to a No 3 alarm within 10 minutes.

Fires are rated on a scale of one to five according to their seriousness.

'Four teams of firefighters wearing breathing apparatus led the guests and staff to safety while colleagues were tackling the fire,' Mr Ho said.