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A fourth-floor flat burns inside Sham Shui Po’s Dai Un Building, prompting residents to evacuate the premises. Photo: Felix Wong

Hong Kong flat bursts into flames, sending residents fleeing from ageing housing block

  • Ten fire engines and an ambulance responded to the blaze at the Sham Shui Po building, dousing the flames in about half an hour
  • Four people who fled to the roof after the conflagration broke out had to be led out the building by firefighters

A fourth-floor flat in a 61-year-old residential block burst into flames on Tuesday in Hong Kong’s Sham Shui Po neighbourhood, sending residents fleeing and two air conditioning units plummeting to the street below as the flat’s window frames buckled from the heat.

Ten fire engines and an ambulance were dispatched at 1.13pm to tackle the blaze at the nine-storey Dai Un Building on Un Chau Street after police received multiple calls reporting dense smoke pouring from the burning flat, police said.

Firefighters and other personnel stand outside a Sham Shui Po building where a fourth-floor flat burst into flames on Tuesday. Photo: Felix Wong

A spokeswoman for the Fire Services Department said 47 residents managed to escape the building via downstairs exits before emergency personnel arrived.

“Another two men and two women, who escaped to the roof of the building during the blaze, were later led to safety by firefighters,” she said.

Firefighters took less than 30 minutes to douse the flames, which left the flat badly damaged, but no casualties were reported in the incident.

The spokeswoman said firefighters were investigating the cause of the blaze.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Lucky escape
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