A major fire on Thursday evening engulfed a skyscraper under construction in the tourist heartland of Hong Kong, with authorities indicating Friday morning that the fire was “largely extinguished”.
Blackened concrete walls and remnants of scaffolding were visible in the morning as city workers cleared debris from the road, an AFP reporter said on the spot.
Authorities said the blaze in Tsim Sha Tsui, a busy shopping and tourist district on the waterfront, was “largely extinguished” as of 8:30 a.m. local time on Friday (0030 GMT), nine hours after s to be declared.
No casualties were reported but two people were lightly injured and treated, according to firefighters.
The police, for their part, told AFP that 170 residents had been relocated to safety.
Authorities also said a major stretch of the district’s – and Hong Kong’s – main thoroughfare had been closed, causing traffic disruptions.
The fire broke out at 11:11 p.m. (3:11 p.m. GMT), with flames first seen near scaffolding at the top of the building. The blaze was visible from the harbor and sent cinders tumbling down nearby streets.
An hour later, the fire spread to the entire building under construction and descended towards the street, where hundreds of onlookers had gathered.
Tosho Sai, a Japanese tourist who was staying in a nearby apartment building, said a member of security told everyone on his floor to leave the building after embers reached the windows of the adjacent apartment.
Keung Sai-ming, a fire official, said Friday that embers had started two other fires on the roofs of nearby buildings, but they were quickly extinguished.
“Last night the wind was strong and blew the flames towards five nearby buildings,” he added.
The building under construction, 42 floors, was to house a hotel and the historic Mariners’ Club according to the website of its promoter, the Empire Group.
The project, estimated at $764 million, was launched in 2019 and was originally scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2023, according to local media.
Asked by AFP, the Empire Group did not respond immediately.