Hong Kong World Trade Centre fire: diners and workers describe fleeing to roof and turning back from smoke-filled stairways
- Thirteen people injured, while many others were trapped for as long as two hours while firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze
- Due to renovation on lower floors, fire-prevention installations, such as the auto-sprinkler system, manual fire alarm and fire detectors, had been turned off
Nearly 1,300 people were evacuated from a skyscraper that caught fire in downtown Hong Kong on Wednesday, sending hundreds fleeing to the rooftop as others struggled through dense smoke in search of an exit from the “maze-like” building.
Firefighters managed to get everyone out of the 40-storey World Trade Centre in Causeway Bay, but 13 people were injured, at least one critically, according to authorities. Some people were trapped for as long as two hours, and firefighters took four hours to extinguish the blaze.
The fire started at 12.37pm on the first and second floors of the building housing a mix of offices, shops and restaurants, and was related to an electrical meter room, the Fire Services Department said.
The fire then spread to scaffolding erected on the lower levels as part of renovation work on the nearly 50-year-old tower.
Due to the construction, fire-prevention installations, such as the auto-sprinkler system, manual fire alarm and fire detectors, had been turned off, it revealed.
“There was no fire alarm,” said a 28-year-old diner at a restaurant on the 13th floor, who joined others in deciding to cover their faces with wet towels and flee down a staircase.
A total of 176 firefighters and 24 ambulances were deployed to the scene.
