<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Thirteen people have been killed in a </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/fire" rel="" target="" title="fire"><span>fire</span></a><span> that spread across seven high-rise apartment buildings in a </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/hong-kong" rel="" target="" title="Hong Kong"><span>Hong Kong</span></a><span> housing complex, and others are still trapped, the city's fire services say.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nine people were declared dead at the scene and four others who were sent to the hospital were later confirmed dead, authorities told reporters on Wednesday night. At least 15 others were injured.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>About 700 people were evacuated to temporary shelters.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/energy-bill-rebate-comments-treasurer-jim-chalmers-inflation/51fa0981-73dc-447e-803b-53c9f5eefe58"><strong><span>$5 billion early Christmas gift could be on the cards for every Aussie</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The raging fire sent up a column of flames and thick smoke as it spread quickly on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting that had been set up around the exterior of the housing complex in Tai Po district, in the New Territories. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Records show the housing complex consisted of eight blocks with almost 2000 apartments housing about 4800 people.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Video from the scene showed multiple buildings close to each other ablaze, with bright flames and smoke shooting out of many of the apartments' windows as night fell. Firefighters were aiming water at the intense flames from high up on ladder trucks.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/hong-kong-fire-deadly-fire-breaks-out-in-highrise-residential-buildings-in-tai-po-district/c6a4aeb1-5d20-4a54-aad6-4c98eb4b1103" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Firefighters deployed 128 fire trucks and 57 ambulances to the scene.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The dead included one firefighter and another was being treated for heat exhaustion, Fire Services Department Director Andy Yeung told reporters.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/inside-the-extortion-racket-bombarding-small-businesses-with-fake-onestar-google-reviews/f7cf796d-d393-4154-be56-89ef2532533c"><strong><span>Chilling threats over fake one-star Google reviews</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Police said earlier that they had received multiple reports of people trapped in the affected buildings, but did not provide details.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>District officials in Tai Po have opened temporary shelters for people left homeless by the fire.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I've given up thinking about my property," a resident who only provided his surname, Wu, told TVB. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Watching it burn like that was really frustrating."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-storms-severe-weather-damaging-winds-large-hail-sydney/527cdd97-b529-44e5-adac-97b7ab338aad" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>One dead, 100,000 without power after wild storms</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em></em><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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