Multiple dead, hundreds missing in fire engulfing apartment buildings

The deadly fire has torn through a sprawling housing estate in Tai Po, a district in the northeastern corner of the New Territories.

The towers at Wang Fuk Court, a dense complex of about 2,000 apartments, were sheathed in bamboo scaffolding, which is widely used in Hong Kong to construct and repair buildings.

There are eight buildings in the apartment complex, with seven catching fire. They are believed to be home to a number of elderly residents. Hong Kong estates are densely populated, with multi-generational families often living inside one small apartment.

Wang Fuk Court’s was estimated to house nearly 5,000 people. The complex was built as government-subsidized housing in the 1980s and was undergoing a lengthy renovation.

– Bloomberg