Three residents were taken to hospital after a fire broke out in a ninth-floor flat at Shek Chun House, So Uk Estate, in Cheung Sha Wan shortly after 2am on August 27, 2026. Reports said about 78 to 80 people were evacuated or assisted to safety, with the difference reflecting varying accounts of the total.
The female occupant told authorities that a portable charger or external battery pack had begun smoking or caught fire, and she escaped from the flat herself. The device was reported as a suspected source of the blaze, rather than a confirmed cause.
Firefighters responded with one water jet and a breathing-apparatus team, and used an aerial ladder during the rescue operation. The fire was reported to have been extinguished at about 3.29am by Star Headline, while other reports said it was put out roughly 30 minutes after firefighters arrived.
The people taken to hospital were a 64-year-old man surnamed Cheng, a 62-year-old woman surnamed Cheng and a 64-year-old woman surnamed Chung. They were reported to have felt unwell after inhaling smoke, while the Chung woman also injured her knee. One report said the male casualty became unwell while escaping and was found in a rear staircase or on the ground before being treated by paramedics.
Firefighters rescued four cats from the flat and tried to revive them with oxygen masks and chest compressions. All four were later pronounced dead.
Ming Pao reported that firefighters initially believed an overheated external charger had caused the fire and found no suspicious circumstances. The supplied reports do not confirm whether that assessment was established by a completed investigation, and they do not give the three residents’ subsequent hospital outcomes.