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Barge fire off Tsing Yi extinguished after sending acrid smoke across Hong Kong

蘋果日報 2021/06/03 12:31


The Fire Services Department put out a barge fire near Stonecutters Bridge on Thursday morning, nearly 15 hours after it caught fire. No injuries were reported.
Four fire boats with jets and breathing apparatus were deployed to the scene. According to the department, the fire was surrounded at 8:05 a.m. and largely put out at 8:20 a.m. on Thursday.
The vessel, located in waters south of Tsing Yi, bursted into flames at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, sending toxic smoke across the city. It was upgraded to a No.3 alarm near midnight.
The barge has the name “Affluent Ocean” printed on its side and bears a flag of Hong Kong. Burnt pieces of scrap metals were scattered across its dock. Marine police continue to standby.
The acrid smoke from the fire reached as far as Sha Tin and Cheung Chau, while districts in the vicinity, including Kwai Tsing and Sham Shui Po, took the hardest hit. The fire department received numerous reports of acrid smell. Some residents evacuated from a building, mistaking the smell for a fire. The department urged residents to close their windows and doors, and stay calm.
Built in 1997, the barge was 100.64 meters long and 19.6 meters wide, with a gross tonnage of 6,448 tons. It travelled from Guangdong Nansha to Hong Kong last week and was heading to Phu My Port in Vietnam.
Kenneth Kwong, a celebrity scientist who holds a PhD in Chemistry, said scrap metals most likely contain electrical wires, which are wrapped in PVC. He estimated that the toxic smoke contained 1,4-Dioxin and urged citizens to wear masks.
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