Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3077566/250-residents-evacuated-fire-hong-kong-public-housing-flat-daybreak
Hong Kong

250 residents evacuated in fire at Hong Kong public housing flat at daybreak

  • Police suspect a remote-controlled car’s battery burst into flames while being charged in a 30th-floor flat, as initial investigation found nothing suspicious
  • Blaze was extinguished in about 40 minutes, while a nine-year-old boy was taken to Tin Shui Wai Hospital for feeling unwell after inhaling smoke
Tin Shui Estate in Tin Shui Wai. Photo: Handout

A remote-controlled car’s battery was suspected to have burst into flames, causing a fire at a public housing flat in northern Hong Kong at daybreak on Monday, in which about 250 residents had to be evacuated.

The battery was being charged in the 30th-floor flat of Shui Fai House at Tin Shui Estate in Tin Shui Wai when the blaze broke out soon after 6am.

About 250 tenants fled from the building before firefighters and paramedics arrived, according to a government spokesman.

He said the “first-alarm” fire was extinguished in about 40 minutes. Fires in the city are rated on a scale of one to five according to seriousness.

The fire gutted the flat and also blackened the outer walls of the units on the 31st floor.

Police said a nine-year-old boy living in a 30th-floor flat complained of feeling unwell after inhaling smoke. He was taken to Tin Shui Wai Hospital for treatment.

A law enforcement source said the remote-controlled car’s battery was suspected to have burst into flames while it was being charged.

A police spokeswoman said initial investigation found nothing suspicious.