HONG KONG - The worst fire calamity to occur in this city since 1997 tore through a six-story, decades-old tenement building on Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok before dawn on Wednesday.
It left at least nine people dead and 34 injured, including a 1-year-old toddler.
More than 200 firemen tried to rescue those in the building. After the blaze was extinguished, six charred bodies were found in the tenement's staircases. Forty-seven other residents were rescued.
Some climbed barefoot to the rooftop to wait to be rescued. Others used torches to send signals to firemen. Some of the injured waited six hours before help came.
The victims who died were sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kwong Wah Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital and Caritas Medical Center.
Six of the injured were reported to be in critical conditions. While some of them were being treated in intensive care units, their family members stood vigil outside, weeping, showing signs of agitation or sitting in silence. None were willing to speak to the press.
A man in his 60s whose surname is Tse waited outside the intensive care unit for his son, who was believed to have suffered from smoke inhalation, although he was not seriously burned.
"When my son was rescued from the fire, his face was completely black, his eyes utterly red, and he kept crying," Tse said.
Tse lives with his son and the son's girlfriend. At the time of the fire, the elder Tse was working a night shift and avoided harm. His son's girlfriend has not been found.
According to the Fire Services Department, the fire was deemed to be a No 3 alarm when it broke out at a vendor stall at about 4:40 am. It spread to adjacent residential buildings shortly afterward.
Television clips show thick smoke rising to the building's upper floors. Cries of "help" were heard constantly.
The fire was deemed a No 4 alarm at 6:09 am. It continued to burn for nearly eight hours and was only extinguished at noon.
Zhao Minghong, who lived four buildings away from the burning building, said she woke up at 4:30 am with her son and husband.
"When we arrived on the ground at 4:50 am, I could still see that some other residents, who were living on the fifth or sixth floor of the burning areas, were still in their apartments. They didn't seem afraid," Zhao said.
"If they had run at that time, they would have got to a safe place. But the fire got worse later, and, for some, it was too late. Firefighters blocked the stairs (to prevent the fire from spreading further). Residents had to run upstairs to the roof to wait to be rescued," Zhao said.
Zhao said she heard several thunderous banging noises. She noticed the fire had started in a place where various hawkers have set up stalls to sell curtains, stuffed animals, sweaters and other goods that are highly combustible.
She saw the fire spread to the upper floors within half an hour. She said there were explosions inside the burning buildings and clouds of smoke billowed out following the blasts.
Szeto Yat-san, a deputy chief fire officer, said a preliminary investigation did not rule out the possibility that the fire was caused by arson, especially since both sides of the stall thought to be the origin of the calamity had caught ablaze at the same time.
Szeto also said the rescue work had been difficult. He said only further investigation can determine why the fire could claim so many victims.
At least 359 households were affected by the fire. The residents have registered at a help desk set up by the Yau Tsim Mong District Office and the Social Welfare Department, near the fire scene.
A special investigation panel has been set up for the investigation. The case has been handed over to the Kowloon West Regional Crime Unit for further investigation.
Donald Tsang, Hong Kong chief executive, said he was "depressed and shocked" by the incident, adding that the government will spare no effort in investigating the disaster and providing assistance to the affected residents.
The Social Welfare Department as well as the Home Affairs Department pledged to do its utmost to provide assistance to the victims.
The hawker stalls where the fire ignited on Wednesday are close to the site of an arson that occurred this past December, injuring seven.
Tsang orders inquiry into cause of deadly fire
Chief Executive Donald Tsang on Wednesday promised a thorough investigation into the cause of a Mong Kok fire in the morning that killed nine people and injured 34.
He has also directed the Chief Secretary for Administration Stephen Lam to lead an interdepartmental working group to coordinate the follow-up work, including the provision of immediate relief to victims and affected families.
Speaking to reporters after visiting the injured at Kwong Wah Hospital, Tsang said fire-safety measures to prevent such a tragedy after a similar fire in Fa Yuen Street in 2010 were inadequate.
"These measures are just not enough and I am sure we need to do more," he said.
The second fire in less than a year on Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok has reopened the question of fire safety in the city's tenements, and fire safety regulations applying to hawker stalls.
Zhao Minghong, whose family fled after the outbreak, lived in a nearby building. Her 9-year-old son, Chung Chun-yan, who didn't have his socks on, said he didn't know what was happening when Zhao woke him up.
Zhao took little solace from the fact that the fire broke out four buildings away.
"I am seriously considering moving," said Zhao, who moved to the area in 2009. She has seen two outbreaks since then. "The place is too dangerous."
Secretary for Food and Health York Chow said the government had adopted strengthened measures to prevent fires since the arson in 2010 that caused widespread damage.
He cited requirements for stall operators that goods be stored within certain boundaries, all stalls be kept at a distance from surrounding buildings, and that non-combustible materials be used to isolate the stalls.
Clement Leung Cheuk-man, director of food and environmental hygiene, said that around 600 street hawkers had been prosecuted owing to fire hazards since the fatal fire in 2010.
Around 200 warning letters were issued in November, to owners whose goods obstructed pavements, he said.
Zhao said, however, she did not notice any change, except that the government repaired the scorched areas.
"I even saw more stalls installed in the empty space near the end of the street," said Zhao.
After the deadly fire incident on Dec 6, 2010, it was suggested that owners' corporations be held accountable for installations of the facilities, according to Chan Wai-keung, member of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council.
Chan also noted that some of the stall owners may have failed to follow regulations strictly.
He said that the stalls were once well-aligned, but resumed messy and obstructive during holiday seasons, when goods pile up.
Chan suggested the government impose such measures as those that apply on Tung Choi Street, where stalls are open only during the daytime, and closed and dismantled at night.
The Yau Tsim Mong District Council will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to look into whether the Fire Services Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department have stringently enforced the law.
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