One Dead, 500 Evacuated In Shau Kei Wan Fire

Police and firefighters say they believe a blaze at a flat in Shau Kei Wan on Sunday that left a body so badly burned that the victim's gender could not be established is suspicious.

The Fire Services Department was called to Hing Cho House on the Hing Tung Estate at about 4.30pm and had to lead about 500 residents to safety. Smoke could be seen billowing from the building. They took almost half an hour to bring the fire under control.

On entering the smoke-filled flat on the 21st floor, they found the body of an unidentified person.

At a briefing on Sunday evening, fire officers said the body was so badly burned that the person could not immediately be identified, and they were unable to say whether the victim was a man or a woman.

They said the spread of the blaze and its ferocity indicated that it was suspicious.

Police said the flat was home to a man in his sixties. The Eastern District Crime Squad is investigating.

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