Seven people died and 11 others sustained injuries in a fire that broke out at a Nepali restaurant in Hong Kong on Sunday.

The people had gathered in a restaurant named ‘Jeere Khursani’ at Yau Ma Tei for a birthday and Diwali celebrations, reported South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based newspaper, quoting a police source.

“The fire broke out at 8:35pm [Hong Kong local time] on Sunday in the 800 sq ft flat, which sits on the first floor of a 69-year-old building and had been converted into a Nepalese kitchen-style diner,” according to the paper.

The building was not equipped with a fire suppression system such as sprinklers, the daily said, attributing it to the Fire Services Department.

On Monday, authorities confirmed that the operator did not have a restaurant licence.

Seventeen of the deceased and injured were Nepali nationals while the nationality of one individual was yet to be established, according to the paper.

“The place was frequently visited by low-income Nepalis since mainstream ones were too expensive,” Dambar Krishna Shrestha, who has lived in Hong Kong for four years and is now editor of the Everest Khabar magazine, told the South China Morning Post.

According to local media, Sunday’s fire was the deadliest since 2011 in the island city, when nine people were killed and 34 injured.

While observers said the incident showed how ethnic minorities have been marginalised in the city, authorities said the inspection of 2,500 old buildings used for residential as well as residential and commercial purposes would be carried out.