New Delhi: A skyscraper under construction in the Tsim Sha Tsui district in Hong Kong was left scorched late Thursday night by a massive fire. The building is a 42-storey project by the Empire Group to house the city's Mariners Club and a hotel, according to the company’s website.
While no casualties had been reported, the government said, and police told AFP that 170 people from nearby residential blocks were evacuated and relocated to a safe distance as sparks and embers fell to the ground.
Keung Sai-ming, Hong Kong's deputy chief fire officer, told reporters that 250 firefighters and rescue workers battled the blaze for the entire night before it was extinguished at about 8 am local time.
He said the cause of the fire was being investigated.
People took to social media to post videos and photos of the fire. Several upper floors of the building were engulfed in fire, according to Reuters witnesses, and blazing falling debris, including bamboo scaffolding, sparked smaller fires in adjacent structures.
As per AFP, the police said five buildings in the surrounding area had reported fires, though some had been quickly extinguished.
Meanwhile, a major section of the neighbourhood's main Nathan Road thoroughfare considered to be one of Hong Kong's main transport lifelines had been shut, authorities said, causing traffic disruptions.
The Mariners Club opened in 1967 to provide affordable accommodation to seafarers, and was popular among maritime workers passing through Hong Kong, according to Reuters.
In 2018, the old building was demolished and was set to be replaced by the 42-storey Kimpton Hotel. The skyscraper was expected to have 500 rooms across 3,40,000 square feet.
The HK$6 billion ($764 million) redevelopment project was greenlit in 2019 and was originally expected to be completed in the first half of 2023, according to local media.