A huge fire that engulfed a Hong Kong residential estate has killed at least 36 people and left more than 200 unaccounted for in the city’s worst blaze in decades.
The fire, which started on Wednesday afternoon and was still burning in the early hours of Thursday, shocked the Chinese financial hub, which has some of the world’s most densely populated and tallest apartment blocks.
Huge flames first took hold on bamboo scaffolding on several apartment blocks of Wang Fuk Court, which contains nearly 2,000 flats in eight towers in the northern district of Tai Po and was reportedly undergoing estate-wide maintenance.
City leader John Lee on Thursday updated the death toll to 36 and said that 279 people were unaccounted for.
