Hong Kong apartment fire hospitalises a resident, 40 neighbours evacuated from Tsui Ping
No fatalities, but the fire took an hour to extinguish as a short circuit is suspected
A 38-year-old woman was hospitalised for smoke inhalation and about 40 residents evacuated from a Kwun Tung public housing estate after a flat caught fire early this morning.
The 26th floor flat in Tsui Cheung House at Tsui Ping North Estate in Kwun Tong was engulfed in flames, television footage showed.
An air conditioner also caught fire and fell to the ground from the flat during the blaze. Its exterior walls and window frames were also blackened and heavily damaged.
The Fire Services Department received a report about the blaze at 6.43am.
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A team of firefighters and a fire engine battled the blaze for about an hour before it was extinguished.
Firefighters said following an initial investigation a short circuit in a mobile phone charger may have sparked the flames.
Neighbours said dense soot came out of the flat and filled the corridor.
“I closed all the windows and turned on a kitchen fan. But the smoke was still coming in. It was quite scary,” a Mrs Yiu, who lives in a flat on the same floor, told local television.
In August last year, a fire swept Tsui Lok House, also at Tsui Ping, claiming the lives of a mother and two of her children. An investigation found an electrical fire was the cause.
