1 dead as fire in Hong Kong high-rise flat forces mass evacuation of residents

A 56-year-old man has died in a suspected electrical fire that ripped through a high-rise flat in Hong Kong's northwest New Territories, prompting the evacuation of around 320 residents, Report informs via South China Morning Post.

Police said on Sunday that the man was taken to Pok Oi Hospital, where he was later certified dead. A 54-year-old woman found at the scene remains in a coma at Tuen Mun Hospital.

Officers received a report at 6.19am on Sunday from a resident of Yoho Town, a private housing estate on Yuen Lung Street in Yuen Long, saying that thick smoke and flames were billowing from an upper-floor flat. Firefighters were dispatched and extinguished the blaze by 6.42am.