Hong Kong fire: Echoes of loss below burnt towers

HONG KONG – More than a week after flames tore through Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court estate, killing at least 159 people, the city remains shrouded in grief and a search for answers.

The blaze, that engulfed seven high-rise towers and took nearly two days to extinguish, is the deadliest fire in an apartment complex in recent history, eclipsing London’s Grenfell Tower inferno of 2017.

Many of the estate’s 4,600 residents, reeling from shock and loss, wandered for days near the disaster site in parks, squares and community centers, while volunteers rushed to help the needy and mourners flocked to pay tribute to the dead.

A family home gone

How the fire started in the housing estate in Tai Po district on the afternoon of November 26 has not been established.

The entire complex was being renovated and by the time firefighters arrived, the blaze had spread upward and then jumped from tower to tower as scaffolding mesh wrapped around the buildings fanned the flames, authorities have said.

Fire alarms were also not working properly and many of the residents on higher floors became trapped by the smoke and heat.

Mr. and Mrs. Leung, who had lived in the estate for decades and raised their now adult daughters there, returned to their home to find it ablaze.

“I stood there watching as one block after another went up in flames, my legs felt so weak I could hardly stand,” said Mrs. Leung, 71.

“I still don’t understand how the fire could spread so fiercely… It was terrifying.” The couple did not want to be further identified.

They said they counted themselves lucky to be safe, but mourn their airy two-bedroom flat looking out over low hills, where Mr. Leung often lounged on his sofa or tended to pot plants.

The Leungs, along with many other displaced residents, congregated around a small park next to the estate in the days after the disaster, a clutch of benches and a pavilion that was soon transformed into a memorial site as people left thousands of handwritten condolence messages and flower tributes.

Searching for a son

David Ho, 75, rested on a bench in that park as he tried to come to terms with the realization that his son and ex-wife, who lived on the 16th floor of the tower where the fire started, did not make it out. They were among 31 people listed as missing.

“He liked running. He was always going overseas to take part in races. Always training,” Ho said of his son, 39-year-old Ho Wing-cheung.

He showed a picture on his phone of an athletic man in a black Adidas vest and shorts competing in a race in Japan.

After finishing a chicken-rice lunchbox, Ho got up and walked towards the train station, bound for his small flat on an outlying island where he now lives alone.

The charred monoliths, darker than the other buildings around them, loomed behind him, visible for miles around.

Police say 140 of the 159 known dead have been identified and they were aged between one and 97. Some bodies, found on stairwells and rooftops, have been reduced to ash, authorities said, making identification difficult.

Enduring image of grief

J Wong, the son of a 71-year-old retiree who was captured in a Reuters photograph that went viral, has spent the past week trying to confirm the fate of his mother who was home at the time and is also listed among the missing.

One recent errand was to obtain his mother’s dental records to potentially assist with identification later.

Both father and son roam the disaster area daily, including a community center where people are shown photos of victims.

“(There are) 40 years of memories here, from the day he (my father) got married. At that time, Tai Po was still a farm. And the train here was a traditional steam one,” the younger Wong said.

“I want to take this chance to tell everyone who has been affected. No matter if you’ve lost your families or close friends… let’s try to give ourselves some hope. Don’t give up.”

Help from home and abroad

The disaster has united Hong Kong residents.

As soon as news spread of the blaze, many flocked to an open plaza near the memorial park, bringing supplies such as clothes, blankets, food and drink for those in need.

University student Crystal Ho, 22, was one of those who volunteered to help, feeling compelled to act.

“That pain…no matter how much we do, it feels like we can never truly carry their suffering.”

Around one in three of all residents in the complex were above the age of 65, often cared for by foreign domestic helpers from the Philippines and Indonesia.

After the fire, many could be seen shuffling around the area with walking sticks or pushed in wheelchairs by their helpers.

The tragedy has spotlighted the enduring role of the city’s hundreds of thousands of foreign helpers, who often live with their employers in cramped spaces and earn modest wages in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

Never again

It also comes after a tumultuous period in Hong Kong, including mass pro-democracy protests in 2019 and a national security crackdown that has silenced dissent.

Police have arrested 21 people in a criminal investigation into the tragedy. The city’s leader has also promised a judge-led review of oversight of renovations.

Wary of public anger spiraling, authorities in the Chinese-ruled city have detained and questioned a number of activists seeking greater government accountability and transparency. But undercurrents of defiance remain.

“This is not an ordinary disaster, this is a systemic disaster,” read one message placed among the mounds of flowers, folded paper cranes and notes wishing peace to the victims.

The Leungs say they echo the hope for justice, so that something like this is never repeated.

“The government must pay attention so disasters like this never happen again, leaving people like us with no one to turn to. I just hope that…no one else has to suffer the same pain,” said Mrs. Leung. – Rappler.com