In Hong Kong, a fire has killed at least four people after tearing through a complex of residential high-rise buildings on Wednesday.
Teams of firefighters have been attempting to douse the flames at Wang Fuk Court, a housing complex made up of eight blocks in the city's Tai Po district in the north east.
What we know about the fire
"Four people are certified dead, two are in critical condition and one in stable condition," by 5:00 p.m. (0900 GMT), the AFP news agency quoted a representative from the government's Information Services Department as saying.
According to local media reports, one of the dead was a firefighter.
The fire department said it received reports at 2:51 p.m. (0651 GMT) of a fire in the residential complex. It was upgraded to a Number 4 alarm at 3:34 p.m. and as night fell it was declared a number five-alarm fire, the highest level.
Earlier, local media also reported that an unknown number of people were trapped in the 31-storey towers — home to around 2,000 residential apartments — although it is unclear as to whether that remains the case.
Taipo District Council member, Lo Hiu-fung, told local broadcaster TVB that most of the residents trapped in the fire were believed to be elderly people, the AP news agency reported, although this has not yet been confirmed by authorities.
A number of towers currently burning have bamboo scaffolding and construction netting fitted to their exterior.
TVB reported that the complex was undergoing major renovations.
Smoke and flames still billowing from building complex
Live footage from the Reuters news agency showed large columns of smoke billowing from several buildings and as darkness fell, fires could be seen burning on multiple floors and apartments of the complex.
