Blaze erupts in Tsuen Wan high-rise, 100 residents evacuated in midnight scare

A fire broke out in a seventh-floor flat at Tsuen Wan Centre early Saturday morning, sending flames and burning debris onto the air conditioners below, forcing around 100 residents to flee in their pajamas.

Police received reports at 3.12am of smoke pouring from a unit in the Peking House of Tsuen Wan Centre on Tsuen King Circuit.

Firefighters arrived quickly, using one hose line and a smoke team to bring the blaze under control by 3.36am.

A video shared online showed fierce flames bursting from the window with at least two separate fire sources. 

Burning fragments dripped down onto the air-conditioning unit of the flat directly below, setting its cover alight.

Fire investigators believe the fire started among miscellaneous items near the window of the seventh-floor unit.

Thick smoke blackened the exterior wall between the seventh and eighth floors, while some flames reached the sixth floor.

The lone male resident of the affected flat felt unwell after inhaling smoke but remained conscious and did not require hospital treatment.

Around 100 residents, many still in nightwear and slippers and some carrying pets, evacuated to a safe area on the podium level. The ground floor of the block houses a care home for the elderly.

No suspicious circumstances have been identified.