A luxury yacht caught fire in Hong Kong’s Kwun Tong Typhoon Shelter, Kowloon Bay, this afternoon (photo: Jimmy Lam)

A luxury yacht has sunk after a raging fire in Kwun Tong Typhoon Shelter, in Kowloon Bay, with two others still on fire as at 4pm.

An eyewitness from the 20th floor of a Kwun Tong skyscraper says one fireboat arrived within 10 minutes of the blaze breaking out, but couldn’t subdue the inferno. “Another bigger fireboat came within 15 minutes – there were three explosions. The fire was controlled but it still burned for another 30 minutes, and then the yacht sank,” says the eyewitness.

Police say they are now searching the area for survivors – it is not known if people were aboard the first boat when the fire broke out.