Latest updates: High temperatures hinder Hong Kong firefighters battling deadly highrise fire

Hong Kong highrise discharge leaves several deadened, others trapped interior

Massive fire burns at Hong Kong residential complex

Emergency officials provide update on massive Hong Kong blaze

Hong Kong highrise fire leaves several dead, others trapped inside

Chinese President Xi Jinping extended his condolences to the fire victims' families and called for an "all-out effort" to extinguish the fire and to minimize casualties and losses, China's central television reported Wednesday night, according to Reuters.

Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee, the head of government for the special administrative region, called an emergency meeting.

"All government departments are fully assisting residents affected by the fire, prioritizing the safety and well-being of the public," a government statement said.

Emergency officials provide update on massive Hong Kong blaze

Officials in Hong Kong provided an update on the emergency response at a deadly fire in a residential complex, which as of late Wednesday had left 13 people dead.

Speaking to reporters, Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Hong Kong's fire department, said firefighting operations have been hampered by extremely high temperatures inside the towers.

Debris could also be seen regularly falling from the buildings in videos.

"The temperature inside the buildings concerned is very high so it's quite difficult for us to enter the building and go up stairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations," Armstrong Chan said.

He said firefighters arrived at the buildings five minutes after the 2:51 p.m. Call came in and saw that the fire was already spreading between buildings.

The fire is reported to have erupted this afternoon in the 31-storey towers.

The fire department said it received reports at 2:51 p.m. Local time that a fire had broken out in Wang Fuk Court, according to Reuters. By 6:22 p.m. It had been upgraded to a No. 5 alarm, the city's highest.

It is now 10 p.m. In Hong Kong.

The complex is under the government's subsidized home ownership scheme. It has been occupied since 1983, according to property agency websites viewed by Reuters.

Harrowing witness reports are surfacing.

Reuters reporters spoke with a 71-year-old resident of the towers who broke down in tears, saying his wife was trapped inside.

Another man named Harry Cheung, 66, who has lived at Block Two in one of the complexes for more than 40 years, said he heard "a very loud noise at around 2:45 p.m." (1:45 a.m. ET) and saw a fire erupt in a nearby block.

"I immediately went back to pack up my things," he told Reuters.

"I don't even know how I feel right now. I'm just thinking about where I'm going to sleep tonight because I probably won't be able to go back home."

Bamboo scaffolding can be seen rising along the exteriors of some of the buildings — prompting questions about its role in the fire's spread. Social media posts from residents said the complex had been under renovation for about a year, according to Reuters.

Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world where bamboo is still widely used for scaffolding in construction.

The government moved to start phasing out the city's use of its bamboo scaffolding in March, citing safety. It announced that 50 per cent of public construction works would be required to use metal frames instead.

The fire spread to seven buildings and 700 people have been taken to temporary shelters, according to The Associated Press. Nearly 5,000 people are reported to live in the complex's 2,000 apartment units.

Videos and photos of the fire show flames raging out of windows, blackening entire facades of the buildings and sending columns of smoke towering above.

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

Hong Kong highrise fire leaves several dead, others trapped inside

A fire spread across multiple highrise buildings in a Hong Kong housing complex on Wednesday, killing 13 people and leaving others trapped inside, authorities said.

Hi, my name is Verity Stevenson. I'm a reporter based in Montreal.

At least 13 people are confirmed dead in a massive fire that has spread to several highrise apartment buildings in a suburb of Hong Kong, in the northern Tai Po district.

The Wang Fuk Court housing complex includes eight blocks and 2,000 residential apartments.

Hong Kong's Fire Services Department told Reuters it does not yet have a figure for the number of people who may still be inside the buildings.

We'll be bringing you updates as this story develops.

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