A skyscraper under construction in the semi-autonomous region Hong Kong had a fire Early Friday morning in a commercial area of the economic city. According to the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, the bamboo scaffolding of the building located in the Tsim Sha Tsui district burst into flames around 00:35 local time (16:35 GMT on Thursday).
The fire caused objects to fall into the street and to hurt two driverswas immediately transferred to hospital centers. It also mandated the evacuation of more than 100 people from surrounding residential buildings, shopping malls and hotels such as the Sheraton.
The government announced that the fire was largely extinguished at 08:30 local time (00:30 GMT). Police reported that six adjacent buildings, including the three where the evacuation took place, were also affected by the flames but were quickly extinguished.
The work is a restructuring of the old Seafarers’ Club, which was scheduled to be completed last year but has been delayed due to the pandemic. For sailors and visitors from the city, the club opened its doors in 1967 and was demolished in 2018.
Hong Kong has been rocked by a series of massive fires in urban areas in recent months. Last January, a fire broke out in an industrial building in the San Po Kong area and it took about 10 hours for firefighters to get the fire under control.