Four students from a Hong Kong technical school were among the 43 people who died in a nightclub fire in the neighboring Shenzhen City on Saturday, the city government said on Monday.
Choi Wai-tat was celebrating his 18th birthday with four friends at the "King of Dances" nightclub in Longgang district of Shenzhen when the place was engulfed by fire at around 10:49 p.m. Saturday.
More than 300 people were watching a performance, during which fireworks ignited flammable material on the ceiling, which spread the fire across the 150-square-meter hall.
Choi and three friends died in the accident. The only one of the five to survive was Cheng Sze-lap, around 20 years old. Cheng told Xinhua from his hospital bed in Shenzhen he was "extremely sad" at his friends' deaths.
Doctor Guan Kui with the Central Hospital in Longgang District said Cheng had suffered smoke inhalation injury and had been in a coma for more than two hours. "He has basically recovered and is about to leave hospital today."
In addition to the students, another Hong Kong resident was killed in the fire. However his identity has yet to be confirmed, said a spokesman with the Shenzhen municipal government.
The fire and the subsequent stampede while people tried to escape via a narrow 10-meter-long passageway killed 43 people and injured 88. Four of the injured were in critical conditions.
Source: Xinhua
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