HONG KONG — At least five people were killed and 43 others injured after a fire broke out at a 60-year-old residential and commercial building in Hong Kong’s bustling Kowloon district on Wednesday (April 10) morning.

One of the five killed was suspected to have jumped off the 16-storey building on Jordan Road in Yau Ma Tei in a bid to escape the blaze and was found on the first-floor podium, the Fire Services Department said.

Mr Lam Kin-kwan, the Kowloon South divisional commander, said another three victims were discovered in the second-floor public corridor of New Lucky House, while the fifth person killed was found on a staircase between the seventh and eighth floors.

The three men and two women were pronounced dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Kwong Wah Hospital. The men were locals while the women’s backgrounds had not been established, the police said.

Mr Lam said firefighters found plastic boxes and electric wiring installed in the first-floor lobby, which were possible reasons for the fire and dense smoke that filled staircases and corridors. He added the fire was intense in the lift lobbies on the first and second floors.

Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung Yan-kin said his department had set up a task force headed by a senior divisional officer to investigate the cause of the blaze and the reasons behind multiple casualties.

Forty of the injured were taken to five hospitals while the other three were treated at the scene.

A government spokeswoman said five women sent to Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary hospitals were in a critical condition.

Another five, two men and three women, were in a serious condition. Thirteen others were in a stable condition while the other 17 were treated and discharged as of 4.20pm.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu offered his deepest condolences to the families of those killed and injured and said investigating the fire’s cause was a priority.

The Fire Services Department has set up a special investigation team while detectives from the Kowloon West regional crime unit are investigating whether any suspicious circumstances were linked to the blaze.

The unit’s Superintendent Gar Kam-lam said police had launched a criminal investigation to find out whether anyone should be held responsible, adding that officers would work with government chemists to gather evidence.

Mr Lam said the fire was intense, resulting in dense smoke that spread across different floors, and firefighters had to conduct rescue operations on multiple levels of the building, which had 35 registered guest houses.

“Some of the flats have subdivided units so we required additional manpower for rescue efforts,” he said.

The department deployed more than 210 firefighters and paramedics in the operation. Thirty-five fire engines and 24 ambulances were sent to the scene after authorities received a call at 7.53am.

People were seen being rescued from Power Gymnasium on the building’s first floor, with police and firefighters hours later breaking into dozens of flats to search for any trapped tenants.

A source familiar with the case said some of the flats contained five to six subdivided units each.

The blaze has been listed as a No 3 alarm fire. In Hong Kong, fires are rated on a scale of one to five according to their seriousness.

The fire was brought under control about an hour after it was reported and was largely put out by 10.30am, authorities said.

According to the fire department, around 250 people were evacuated from the building and another 50 residents had fled before emergency personnel arrived.

Police Superintendent Neil Burnett, the Yau Ma Tei divisional commander, said among those fleeing the building were overseas travellers staying in guest houses.

“Some of these people got flights out of the territory to other countries,” he said, adding that police did their best to help them retrieve their luggage.

Another source said the police received multiple reports claiming the Power Gymnasium on the first floor had caught fire, but noted officers would need to investigate further before confirming where the blaze started.

“The gym was reportedly operating when the fire broke out, but it remains uncertain whether there were any clients inside at the time,” he said.

The insider said some residents had passed out in the building’s public areas due to smoke inhalation before they were rescued by emergency personnel.

“Some residents became trapped in the smoke-filled staircases and needed assistance from firefighters who led them to safety,” he said.

City leader Mr Lee later visited the injured at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

“I feel very sad about this incident. I give my deepest condolences to the families of those who died and the injured,” he said.

Mr Lee said one of the priorities for the government was to investigate the cause of the blaze, with fire services, police and other relevant departments tasked with the work. He said the other priorities included taking care of the families of the deceased and injured.

The government has set up a temporary shelter at Henry G Leong Yaumatei Community Centre for residents in need.

A fourth-floor tenant told local media her fire alarm woke her up and she struggled to see because of thick smoke in the room.

“I ran down the stairs to escape, but realised the fire was even worse,” she said.

The flames forced her to rush up to a higher floor and wait for rescue.

Some of those evacuated waited at the scene to receive further assistance. A young woman was seen sobbing on the pavement after being rescued.

Mr Robert Kwong, 90, and his wife had just spent their first night at a guest house on the 10th floor when the fire broke out.

“We huddled together in our room for half an hour before we were evacuated. The firefighters were going around knocking on all the doors, but they had to take care of people on the other side of the building first,” he said

The pair were brought to the shelter, where they decided to book a room at a nearby hotel for the rest of their seven-day stay in Hong Kong.

The pair, both Hongkongers, moved to Foshan in Guangdong province after their retirement 20 years ago, and were back in the city to handle personal matters.

New Lucky House was constructed in 1964. 

District councillor Chris Ip Ngo-tung said the building had about 100 subdivided flats.

Mr Lee had announced in a policy address in October that a Task Force on Tackling the Issue of Subdivided Units had been set up to define minimum standards for subdivided flats — cheap homes carved up by separating a property into tiny cubicles that often pose hygiene and fire safety hazards.

According to the policy blueprint, the standards will incorporate elements such as building and fire safety, sanitary conditions and living space area, with the chief executive suggesting legislative proposals may be part of an “orderly” solution.

In November 2020, a fire tore through an 800 sq ft flat converted into an unlicensed restaurant on the first floor of a single-staircase tenement on Canton Road in Yau Ma Tei, leaving four males and four females, aged eight to 40, dead.

The deadly blaze prompted authorities to carry out inspections on more than 2,500 old buildings across the city. SCMP