HONG KONG — A storage unit building fire that killed two firefighters and injured 11 others raged for more than 80 hours before being brought under control Friday.
The four-alarm fire broke out Tuesday in Ngau Tau Tok. It is the city’s longest-running blaze in two decades, reported the South China Morning Post.
Firefighter Samuel Hui Chi-kit, 37, died after being transported to the hospital Thursday.
“We had a team on the third floor extinguishing the fire … When there was a duty handover, they discovered Hui was unconscious,” Director of the Fire Services Department David Lai-Man told Channel News Asia. “All of our colleagues immediately began rescuing him and brought him to the ambulance.”
Second firefighter dies in Hong Kong storage facility fire https://t.co/lDs65MHgQP pic.twitter.com/IKKwTERdPc
— YouTube Newswire (@ytnewswire) June 24, 2016
On Tuesday, senior station officer Thomas Cheung, 30, died while battling the fire. Cheung was trapped inside the building for more than half an hour before other firefighters could reach him.
Lai-Man said Cheung was leading another teammate to the site when he was caught by a sudden rise in temperature and smoke; the teammate managed to pull out and report the situation, but lost contact with Cheung.
HKFP: Second firefighter dies in hospital as storage unit fire rages into fourth day https://t.co/Qvl2fni7GD pic.twitter.com/Ji0VL5douu
— Hong Kong News (@hongkong_news) June 23, 2016
Putting out the fire has been a challenge due to metal sheets separating the 200 storage cubicles inside the building. The interior of some of the locked units have caught fire, reported the Hong Kong Free Press.
Acting Deputy Chief Officer Poon Wai-lun of the Fire Services Department said that the building was not equipped with enough sprinkler systems and has narrow alleyways, making for a dangerous and difficult mission.
Over 120 firefighters and 30 engines responded to the fire.
At a press conference Thursday, Lai-Man hailed the firefighters as professionals, and said a committee will be formed to investigate the deaths.