Man arrested on suspicion of setting alight subdivided flat during dispute with wife in Hong Kong’s Kowloon City
- Initial probe reveals man used a cigarette lighter to set alight clothes during dispute with wife
- Seven fire engines and two ambulances rushed to spot and blaze was controlled after 25 minutes
A man was arrested on suspicion of setting alight his subdivided flat during a dispute with his wife in Hong Kong’s Kowloon City before dawn on Thursday.
About 50 residents fled from a four-storey block on Fuk Lo Tsuen Road shortly before 5.30am when the blaze broke out in his third-floor flat.
“Initial investigation revealed the man used a cigarette lighter to set alight some clothes during a dispute with his wife,” a police spokesman said.
Seven fire engines and two ambulances were deployed to the scene.
The flat was ablaze by the time firefighters arrived within three minutes of being informed. It took them 25 minutes to douse the flames, which left the unit badly damaged.
The tenant, 41, suffered burns to his forearms, while his 38-year-old wife complained of feeling unwell after inhaling smoke, police said.
The couple were taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei. A government spokesperson termed the man’s condition as critical. His wife was discharged after treatment.
The man was being held for questioning and had not been charged till 12 noon.
Detectives from Kowloon City criminal investigation unit are handling the case.
Police handled 155 arson cases in the city in the first six months of 2019, up 9.9 per cent from 141 during the same period last year.
Separately, emergency personnel were called to Lei Tim House at Ap Lei Chau Estate on South Horizons Drive, Ap Lei Chau, at 8.14am when an air-conditioner burst into flames in a second-floor flat.
Five fire engines and one ambulance were sent to the scene. Twenty residents fled from the public housing block before firefighters arrived. The blaze was extinguished at around 8.27am. No casualties were reported and police found nothing suspicious during initial investigation.