36 dead, 279 missing in Hong Kong housing estate blaze

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Thirty-six people have been killed and 279 others are missing after a ferocious blaze ravaged a housing estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po neighbourhood, as scorching flames continued engulfing bamboo scaffolding across seven residential blocks.

Another 29 people have been hospitalised, with seven in a critical condition, Chief Executive John Lee revealed in an early morning press conference at Prince of Wales Hospital.

Earlier, President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences to the victims in a late evening statement, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Huge plumes of dark smoke billowed high into the sky at the scene at Wang Fuk Court on Wednesday, with the flames quickly spreading to seven out of eight blocks in the estate.

Police said on Wednesday that they had received multiple reports of people trapped in a building where the blaze started, with a man and a woman reportedly unconscious and suffering from burns.

The blaze was initially classified as a No 1 alarm fire but was quickly raised to No 4 by 3.34pm and then to the top-level No 5 at 6.22pm. In Hong Kong, fires are rated on a scale of one to five, with higher numbers indicating greater severity.

Footage from the scene shows bamboo scaffolding outside several flats of the building engulfed in flames, with burning sections of green scaffolding mesh falling to the ground.

Follow our live updates on the fire below.

Reporting by Leopold Chen, Danny Mok, Vivian Au, Jess Ma, Lo Hoi-ying, Jeffie Lam, Matthew Cheng and Fiona Sun.