One person died and eight others were injured after a fire broke out at a public housing unit in Shek Kip Mei on Sunday morning, authorities said.

Police received multiple reports at around 8am that a unit on the 21st floor of Mei Yue House, Shek Kip Mei Estate, was on fire.

Firefighters found a burnt body inside the unit that had caught fire.

Eight others were taken to hospital for treatment.

Around 270 residents – many of them covered up by blankets to stay warm – were evacuated from their homes.

A resident surnamed Chow lives just three units away from the unit that caught fire.

He, together with his wife, and their dogs were trapped inside their home until firefighters came to their rescue.

“We tried wrapping ourselves with wet towels and heading out, but we couldn’t because of the thick smoke,” he said.

“I told my wife to stay inside the room. We opened all the windows to breathe outside air, and used wet towels to block the doorways. But it was no use, the smoke was way too strong. My entire flat was pitch dark. I thought it was Wang Fuk Court 2.0. Then firefighters swiftly arrived at my flat,” he said.

A woman surnamed Wong, who lives five floors above the unit that caught fire, escaped with her two cats.

“I was sleeping but suddenly awoke to the fire alarm. I heard human voices, so I went outside and saw smoke. I grabbed my two cats, some medicine, and a wet towel,” she said.

Another resident said there was a false fire alarm last week and thought it was the same this time.

The blaze was put out in around an hour after firefighters arrived at the scene.

An acting assistant divisional officer from the Fire Services Department, Yip Kam-kong, said the cause is under investigation.

“We will investigate the cause from multiple perspectives. This also includes investigating whether there was an electrical failure. Firefighters also encountered some difficulties during firefighting and rescue operations. The corridor on the 21st floor was already packed with thick smoke when our colleagues got there. This made search and rescue more difficult,” he said.

Yip added the building’s fire devices operated normally during the blaze, noting that the alarms had functioned properly during a check conducted last month.
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Last updated: 2026-01-04 HKT 13:20