Hundreds of construction workers fled the building site of the Emperor Palace casino-hotel in Macau yesterday after the near-completed building caught fire.
The fire started at about 1.30pm on the fifth floor of the hotel in the Nam Van district, adjacent to Hotel Sintra, and spread rapidly towards the roof.
The contractor, Hip Hing Construction, said the blaze was started by welding sparks setting fire to refuse. Macau fire officials are still investigating the cause of the blaze.
Firefighters spent more than two hours battling the flames. No one was injured, but parts of the building were blackened by the blaze and many windows were shattered.
At about 3pm, embers flared up again on the highest floor, causing rooftop scaffolding to collapse.
The casino-hotel had been scheduled to open on December 22. A spokeswoman said the Hong Kong Emperor Group was still assessing the damage.