More than 1,200 people were rescued from Hong Kong’s World Trade Centre after dozens of firemen put out a fire that blasted through one of the city’s busiest towers, leaving more than a dozen people wounded.
After more than 300 people were stranded on the rooftop of the building, which includes both offices and a retail complex, police at the site notified reporters that everyone at the 39-story skyscraper in Causeway Bay had been evacuated to safety by 5 p.m. (09:00 GMT).
“The fire has been put out,” Britt Clennett of CSU said from outside the charred structure.
At least 13 persons were transported to the hospital, with smoke inhalation being one of them.
Clennett explained, “This is one of the busiest shopping districts, and it has caused a lot of chaos and a lot of stress.” She went on to say, “This happened at rush hour.”
“Many individuals would have been eating lunch with their coworkers or out shopping inside the facility.”
The source of the fire is unknown, but according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), it started in an electrical switch room at 12:37 p.m. local time (04:37 GMT) and spread to the scaffolding of the building, where repair work is underway.
The cause of the fire is being investigated, according to police.
The incident on Wednesday prompted a big reaction, with firemen spotted deploying emergency ladders to remove people.
According to police, firefighters used two breathing apparatus teams and two water jets to help fight the fire.
Local media had previously claimed that up to 350 people were stuck on the building’s rooftop, waiting to be evacuated. Meanwhile, footage shared on the internet showed scores of people, including the elderly, queuing on the fifth floor’s open-air space.
“We were heading down at first, but we heard there was significant smoke around the 17th level, so we chose to head to the roof instead,” office worker Ernest Chan, who was evacuated to the roof but walked down via the stairs, told SCMP.
“However, we waited too long, and visibility appeared to be clear, so we walked down again.” “We’d still be waiting upstairs if we hadn’t made this call,” the 28-year-old stated.
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