At least seven dead, several others critically injured as fire rips through flat in Hong Kong tenement building
- Nine-year-old child among those killed in the blaze, the deadliest in city in almost a decade
- Police investigating whether flat in Yau Ma Tei was operating as unlicensed restaurant while source says gathering was for a birthday party
01:17
Hong Kong tenement fire kills at least seven people, injures several more
At least seven people including a nine-year-old child were killed and several others critically injured in Hong Kong on Sunday night after a fire broke out in a flat suspected to be an unlicensed restaurant.
Authorities said four men and three women, aged nine to 40, died after the blaze ripped through the apartment in a tenement building near the junction of Canton Road and Saigon Street in Yau Ma Tei.
Three men and four women were listed as being in a critical condition in hospital. Two others were in a serious condition. One person was stable in hospital and another was discharged.
The fire was the deadliest in Hong Kong in almost a decade.
According to a police source, the flat was being used as a Nepalese restaurant at which a birthday party was being held. Lit candles were thought to have set soundproofing material on fire.