A boat fire in Shau Kei Wan typhoon shelter injured five people, alarmed local residents and caused plumes of black smoke to fill the harbour on Sunday.

shau kei wan fire
Photo: Paper Shau Kei Wan, via Facebook.
shau kei wan fire
Photo: HKFP.

Multiple loud bangs were heard nearby as fuel tanks exploded.

shau kei wan fire
Photo: Paper Shau Kei Wan, via Facebook.

Firefighters responded quickly to tackle the blaze which first broke out at around 2pm.

shau kei wan fire
Photo: HKFP.
shau kei wan fire
Photo: HKFP.

It quickly spread to other vessels, with at least nine damaged in the inferno.

shau kei wan fire
Photo: Lazy KeySon, via Facebook.

Those injured were treated at hospital.

YouTube video

The cause of the incident remains unknown.

Additional reporting: Ryan Kilpatrick.

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Tom founded Hong Kong Free Press in 2015 and is the editor-in-chief. In addition to editing, he is responsible for managing the newsroom and company - including fundraising, recruitment and overseeing HKFP's web presence and ethical guidelines.

He has a BA in Communications and New Media from Leeds University and an MA in Journalism from the University of Hong Kong. He previously led an NGO advocating for domestic worker rights, and has contributed to the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Al-Jazeera and others.