China News Service, Hong Kong, November 21 (Reporter Han Xingtong) The Yau Ma Tei fire in Hong Kong on the 15th increased the death toll to 8 people.

When meeting with reporters on the 21st, Hong Kong Fire Services Commissioner Leung Wai-hung said that after preliminary investigations, there is reason to believe that the dead and injured cannot escape through the door due to a fire near the door.

  Leung Wai-hung said that in response to the Yau Ma Tei fire, the Fire Services Department has set up a dedicated team to investigate the cause of the fire and the cause of a large number of casualties, and the investigation is still ongoing.

Initially, there are reasons to believe that a candle was lit at the door and the object caught fire, so that the people in the unit could not escape.

Because there were about 20 people at the scene, 5 of them wanted to climb out of the scaffold to escape, 4 chose to jump out of the window to escape, and firefighters rescued 11 people from the fire.

The rescue situation confirmed that the main entrance could not be used at that time.

  Liang Weixiong also mentioned that the tenement building where the fire broke out is 69 years old, which has aroused public concern about the fire safety of the old building. The Fire Department will deploy 50 people to conduct inspections of about 2500 buildings close to the age next week. Building, inspect whether there are serious fire hazards, including whether the escape route is blocked, whether the fire equipment is damaged on the scene, and whether there are dangerous goods, etc., and will enforce the law immediately, and the target will be completed before the end of the year.

He expressed that the Fire Services Department is confident to complete the task.

(Finish)