The deadly level 5 fire at Hong Fuk Court in Tai Po, Hong Kong, left residents heartbroken to see their painstakingly built safe haven reduced to ashes overnight. On the morning of the 29th, Mr. Luk, a resident affected by the fire, stood on the platform at Kwong Fuk Estate, and specifically asked journalists present to borrow a telephoto lens in order to see the extent of damage to his home up close. When he saw the burnt and blackened exterior of his building, he couldn’t hold back his tears, making for a distressing scene.
According to Sing Tao Daily, Mr. Luk said that on the day of the incident, he learned about the fire at Hong Fuk Court from a group chat. He immediately instructed his domestic helper not to return home, and also called his mother, who lived in the neighboring unit, to tell her not to go back. In the end, his mother waited for news at a fast-food restaurant. “We just watched the building burn. At first, I didn’t think it would get so serious, because two weeks ago there was a bamboo scaffolding fire in Central — it only burned away the enclosure netting and nothing else, and the next day the scaffolding was rebuilt. But who would have thought this time everything would be destroyed.”
He heard that today they could retrieve some belongings: “The building can’t be lived in anymore—no use thinking about it.” He revealed that in the past few days, his whole family temporarily stayed at his sister’s place nearby. “We have no identification documents left and need to go to Immigration to reapply.”
● Family cat Garfield remains missing
Ms. Chan, who lives alone, had already left for work when the fire broke out, but her beloved pet cat “Garfield,” whom she’d raised for many years, is still missing. She has already reported the missing cat to the authorities, but so far has not received any notification that it has been found. “I feel my cat is probably still alive — if only it could have been rescued sooner. But then thick smoke just kept pouring into the flat. So many days have passed now; I can’t rule out that it might be on the verge of death.” She spoke of her inner anxiety: “As I live alone, my cat (Garfield) was my companion.”
Ms. Chan revealed that she originally estimated that after the Chinese New Year next year, the repairs would be completed. Each phase required a 20,000 HKD payment, for a total of six phases. She had already paid four or five installments. She had planned to “be free from hardship,” but now that plan became suffering.
After surviving the disaster, Ms. Chan questioned: “Will my unit still be livable?”
The government stated that it is making every effort to provide emergency accommodation support to residents affected by the Hong Fuk Court fire.