9 die in fire At Hong Kong tourist market

A fire in a Hong Kong tourist market and residential tower has killed at least nine people and injured 30.Fire crews were called to the Ladies Market in the Mong Kok area of Kowloon after the blaze started before dawn.The narrow market was described by witnesses as a wall of flame and thick black smoke as the fire ripped through street hawkers' lightweight stalls and flats above.Local television showed firemen pulling survivors and body bags from rooftops and badly burnt victims wrapped in bandages.The cause of the fire is not known but officials said an investigation was under way.A resident said the building where many of the victims lived had been subdivided into small living spaces known as cubicles or cage homes.A fire at a subdivided apartment building in Kowloon killed four people earlier this year, prompting calls for a ban on the practice.But policy makers rejected the calls, acknowledging that rocketing apartment prices left many people with no option but to live in overcrowded, unsafe buildings.The Ladies Market at Fa Yuen Street is popular with tourists looking for cheap deals on items such as clothing, toys and mobile phone accessories.A suspected arson attack destroyed dozens of stalls in the same market last year, but police would not comment on what might have triggered the latest fire.