Authorities reported on Wednesday night that nine individuals were found dead at the scene, while four others, who were transported to the hospital, also succumbed to their injuries. Officials confirmed that at least 15 additional people sustained injuries in the incident.

Approximately 700 residents were relocated to temporary shelters as a precautionary measure.

The inferno erupted with a fierce blaze and dense smoke, rapidly spreading through bamboo scaffolding and construction netting surrounding the housing complex in Tai Po district, located in the New Territories.

According to records, the housing complex comprises eight blocks, containing nearly 2,000 apartments and home to about 4,800 residents.

Footage captured at the scene depicted multiple nearby buildings engulfed in flames, with vivid fire and smoke billowing from numerous apartment windows as darkness fell. Firefighters were seen battling the intense blaze from elevated ladder trucks, directing water onto the flames.

The blaze started mid afternoon and after nightfall authorities upgraded it to a level five alarm, the highest level of severity, the Fire Services Department said. The fire was still raging after midnight local time.

Firefighters deployed 128 fire trucks and 57 ambulances to the scene.

The dead included one firefighter and another was being treated for heat exhaustion, Fire Services Department Director Andy Yeung told reporters.

Police said earlier that they had received multiple reports of people trapped in the affected buildings, but did not provide details.

Lo Hiu-fung, a Taipo District Council member, told local TV station TVB earlier Wednesday that most of the residents trapped in the fire were believed to be elderly people.

District officials in Tai Po have opened temporary shelters for people left homeless by the fire.

“I’ve given up thinking about my property,” a resident who only provided his surname, Wu, told TVB.

“Watching it burn like that was really frustrating.”

Tai Po is a suburban area in the New Territories, in the northern part of Hong Kong and near the border with the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong at building construction and renovation projects, though the government said earlier this year that it would start phasing it out for public projects because of safety concerns.