HONGKONG FIRE

Press, Volume C, Issue 29515, 17 May 1961, Page 6

HONGKONG FIRE

25 Deaths In Tenements

(N ZP.A . • Reuter—Copyright) HONG KONG, May 15 ’ Twenty-five persons, in-: eluding two children, died ; and more than 44 others were, injured in a fire which' gutted-three tenement build-: ings in an overcrowded dis-, trict in Kowloon today, according to a Government (release. The outbreak, which started on the ground floor of one building, was followed by a violent explosion. Flames rapidly spread to two other tenements before the fire was controlled. Most of the dead, including women and children, were found huddled together on staircases, apparently trapped while trying to escape to the roof.

The explosion blew out the front of the building and a sheet of flame shot across the road burning a sign board. Today's fire was one of the worst tenement fires since 1957 when 58 persons died in a similar blare. One of today’s dead was a man who jumped from the second floor of one of the blazing buildings, and landed on the road. A total of 164—70 men, 50 women and 44 children—from 59 families had registered for aid with the Social Welfare Department at the time the registration of fire victims closed for the night, a police spokesman said tonight.