In Hong Kong, the death toll from a fire that tore through a apartment complex has risen to 75. A government spokesperson told news agencies that fire fighters are battling the blaze at the high-rise residential complex for the second day today. The thick smoke continues to pour out of some apartments in the Wang Fuk Court complex, a dense cluster of high-rise towers housing thousands of people in Tai Po district. Flames could still be seen inside the buildings.

 

Hong Kong leader John Lee said, contact had been lost with 279 people. Rescue operations are still underway in some of the towers. Fire fighters have been trying to control the flames since yesterday when the fire started in bamboo scaffolding and construction netting and then spread across seven of the complex’s eight buildings. Fires in four buildings had been effectively put out, with the remaining three towers under control. About 900 people were evacuated to temporary shelters overnight.