A 78-year-old man living alone has been found dead after a fire broke out in a public housing unit in Hong Kong.
The Fire Services Department (FSD) said on Monday that it received reports of the blaze in a third-floor unit in Wo King House, Lai King Estate, at 5.04am.
The FSD sent 14 fire trucks and six ambulances to the scene, deploying 81 firefighters and ambulance officers in total. The fire, which measured about six by five metres, was largely put out at 5.20 am, it said.
“A male corpse… was discovered in the flat,” Wong Cheuk-kei, an assistant divisional officer of the FSD, said in Cantonese during a press briefing.
Wong added that the 78-year-old man was found on a bed and was living by himself.
“We have also rescued three people in other units on the same floor. Fifty others evacuated themselves to safe areas,” he said.
Senior ambulance officer Lai Hong-keung said the three people – a man and two women – who were rescued suffered from inhaling smoke.
The man and one of the two women were sent to Prince Margaret Hospital, while the second woman refused to be hospitalised after she was treated at the scene, Lai said.
Police said there was no evidence suggesting criminal activities linked to the blaze.
The FSD is investigating the cause of the fire, Wong said.
Ming Pao reported that the deceased was believed to have been unable to escape the flat in time.
