CHINA: Around 600 guests evacuated and one woman taken to hospital after a fire breaks out at Hong Kong's Harbour View Hotel

Record ID: 872791

  • Title: CHINA: Around 600 guests evacuated and one woman taken to hospital after a fire breaks out at Hong Kong's Harbour View Hotel
  • Date: 22nd April 2012
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF MAN HOLDING CHILD VARIOUS OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE TWO SMALL CHILDREN IN BLANKET
  • Embargoed: 7th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China, Hong Kong, China
  • City:
  • Country: Hong Kong
  • Topics: Disasters
  • Reuters ID: LVAA2R6VUEH7SKD0OKVCMVAV8KH4
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Around 600 people were evacuated and a woman was taken to hospital after a fire broke out at the Harbour View Hotel in central Hong Kong.
    The blaze began on a the 43rd non-residential floor, but falling debris started another fire on a lower deck.
    The fire started at around 0300 local time (1900 GMT) and was brought under control 2200 GMT by which time the hotel and several surrounding buildings were cleared.
    Evacuated guests complained bitterly about no fire alarms, blocked fire escapes and no staff direction.
    One South African businessman watched the scene in disbelief as he arrived at the hotel to check in.
    "Because we've just come from Hong Kong airport and they've given us a voucher to stay in the hotel. We've just landed and they said the flights were cancelled due to the rain today and we come to the hotel and it's on fire, so where do we go from here, can you believe it?" said Craig Clarke, who was travelling from Shanghai but had missed his connecting flight to South Africa due to bad weather.
    Briton Adrian Wales, who had been staying at the hotel with his wife to celebrate t 25th wedding anniversary, was woken by the sound of breaking glass.
    "I wondered what it was and I happened to look out the window and because it's an L-shaped building, in the window's glass you could see flames above our room. And all of a sudden flames and glass fell down in front of my window while I was looking out. So I just woke the wife up and said; 'quick, the hotel's on fire, we've gotta get out," he said, adding that when he left the room and tried the fire alarm it didn't work so knocked on his neighbours doors to alert them to the fire.
    Another couple with a toddler said that the hotel called their room two hours after the fire had started after which they had to walk down 22 flights of stairs through a smoke and water-filled stairway.
    The Harbour View Hotel is used by several flight crews, and a United Airlines staff member, who did not want to be named, said that his flight to New York and several others would be cancelled because the crews' flight gear was trapped in the hotel.
    Although there is thought to be no serious damage to any of the hotel rooms, at 2330GMT guests were still waiting for police to check the building before they were allowed back into their rooms.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Video restrictions: parts of this video may require additional clearances. Please see ‘Business Notes’ for more information.
Register