Fire Still Burns, Hong Kong Apartment Fire Now Kills 66 People

JAKARTA - Firefighters are still battling a fire in Hong Kong's high-rise housing complex for the second day on Thursday. The death toll rose to 65 in one of the deadliest fires in the city's modern history.

Thick smoke continued to billow from several apartments in the Wang Fuk Court complex, a dense ceiling complex that houses thousands of people in Tai Po district, a northern suburb near the Hong Kong border with the main mainland.

The fire was still visible inside the buildings on Thursday, November 27 evening.

Hong Kong leader John Lee said contact with 279 people was cut off on Thursday morning.

Rescues continue in several buildings, but authorities do not provide up-to-date information about missing persons or how many are still trapped inside the destroyed buildings.

Firefighters have been trying to control the fire since Wednesday afternoon, when the fire started with bamboo sinks and construction nets, then spread to seven of the eight complex buildings. The fire in four buildings has been extinguished, with the remaining three towers under control.

One firefighter was among the dead, and 70 people were injured, authorities said. About 900 people were evacuated to temporary shelters.