Hong Kong family of 3 hospitalised after electric heater bursts into flames, sparking fire in flat
- Blaze extinguished at 7.56am, about 15 minutes after it swept through flat occupied by woman and her two daughters
- Mother sustained hand injury, older daughter suffered from effects of smoke and younger woman needed treatment for shock
Three Hong Kong family members were hospitalised after an electric heater burst into flames and set their three-bedroom flat ablaze on Wednesday.
A 59-year-old woman and her two daughters, aged 30 and 27, who were in the flat at the time managed to escape the fire.
Police said the mother suffered an injury to her hand, while her older daughter complained of smoke inhalation. The younger daughter required treatment for shock.
All three were taken to Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung.
The trio were among 30 people who fled the building before police and firefighters arrived.
The blaze was extinguished by 7.56am, but it caused serious damage to the living room of the flat.
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Emergency services were alerted after the blaze swept through the family’s 13th-floor flat in the Mei Foo Sun Chuen housing estate on Humbert Street in Lai Chi Kok at around 7.40am.
A source familiar with the case said early investigations suggested items in the living room caught fire after the heater burst into flames while the woman and her daughters were in their bedrooms.
“They managed to run out of the burning flat before firefighters arrived,” the insider said.
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Police said there the fire did not appear suspicious.
Firefighters are investigating the cause of the blaze.
