A fire believed to be the work of an arsonist engulfed a Hong Kong residential block and popular tourist market early yesterday, killing nine people and injuring 30, police said.

Ambulances rushed the injured to hospital as scores of firefighters battled to put out the blaze, which started before dawn at a stall in the Ladies Market in the Mongkok area of Kowloon.

The Ladies Market nestles in one of earth’s most densely-populated areas, and is popular with tourists looking for cheap deals on items such as clothing, toys and mobile phone accessories.

“Nine people died and 30 people have been sent to hospital for treatment so far,” an emergency services spokeswoman said, adding that five of the injured were in critical condition.

The narrow market street was a wall of flame and thick black smoke as the fire tore through the flimsy stalls and residential flats above, witnesses said. “There was a lot of smoke, I waited up to an hour for the firemen,” one survivor told Cable News television.

Another said: “I saw a lot of black smoke. I wet some towels and put them under the door. I couldn’t even see myself because there was so much smoke.” Local television showed firemen pulling shaken survivors and body bags from rooftops, while badly burnt victims were wrapped in bandages and sent to hospital. Residents fled in their pyjamas carrying pets and mobile phones, or called out to firemen from windows as the flames raged through the market below.