MOUNTAIN fires in Hong Kong were likely responsible for the heavy smoke and ashes floating through Shenzhen skies Sunday, which was the Qingming Festival. During the festival, Chinese traditionally burn offerings to their ancestors.

    On Sunday afternoon, residents in Futian, Nanshan and Luohu districts took to their microblogs to complain about a heavy burning smell and billowing smoke floating from the Hong Kong side of the border, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

    Shenzhen officials said that there were no fires in Shenzhen at that time. City police later confirmed that mountain fires in the Fanling, Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai areas of Hong Kong caused the smoke, according to the report.

    A man surnamed Chen, living near Futian Checkpoint, said ashes started falling from the sky at about 5 p.m. Sunday.

    He thought at first someone in his neighborhood might be burning offerings.

    “I realized later it must be caused by mountain fires in Hong Kong. It happened on the Qingming Festival last year,” said Chen.

    Some Shenzhen residents accused local police and fire department of failing to inform residents of the fires in a timely manner.

    Last year, many Shenzhen residents complained when a waste-recycling facility in Hong Kong caught fire and sent pungent smoke into Shenzhen.

    Across Guangdong Province, hundreds of hill fires were reported during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended yesterday. No one has been reported injured.

    (Martin Li)