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Ms Wong, a 68-year-old retired Hongkonger, was getting ready for her afternoon nap when two firefighters banged on the door of her high-rise flat, warning her of a blaze on the lower floors.
“I looked out of the window and saw smoke. I was so scared I left with them immediately. I didn’t even take anything with me. Rushing down 25 floors almost killed me. But thanks to them I escaped,” she said on Thursday, shaking as she watched an army of firefighters work to extinguish the last of a blaze that has devastated several large apartment buildings. At least 44 people have died while 279 are missing.
The fire broke out on Wednesday in Wang Fuk Court, a typical Hong Kong residential complex with apartment blocks more than 30 storeys high, and quickly spread to seven of the estate’s eight towers.
The estate — in the district of Tai Po, about 20km from the territory’s commercial centre — has nearly 2,000 apartments, according to data from the Hong Kong Housing Authority. News of the blaze sent a shudder through a territory whose skyline is dominated by high-rises and where hundreds of thousands of people live in similar apartment buildings.
Thousands of people, including Ms Wong, decamped to shelters overnight in nearby community centres and schools. “I couldn’t sleep,” Ms Wong said. “I don’t know what else to do. All my belongings are in there.”
Water jets from the dozen or so fire engines assembled around the burning buildings could only reach 20 floors, she noted, unsure what would happen to her apartment.
Early on Thursday, sirens blared along the 100-metre two-lane road connecting Wong Fuk Court to the closest highway, already clogged with fire engines and ambulances. The air was filled with smoke and the stench of burnt plastic while volunteers brought water and food to the shelters.
The owner of a fruit stand in nearby Tai Po Market was pushing a trolley laden with 20 boxes of oranges to a shelter. “I just wanted to help. I’ve been doing business here for more than 10 years. Many of these people probably bought from my shop,” he said.
The blaze is the deadliest fire since 1962, when 44 died in a tenement in the crowded Sham Shui Po district.
“I am deeply saddened by the serious casualties caused by the Category 5 fire in Wang Fu Court, Tai Po, and extend my deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of the deceased and the injured,” Eric Chan, Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary for the Administration, wrote on Thursday on social media.
“The government will do its best to provide all the support and assistance needed to the affected residents so that we can work together to get out of the gloom and get through this difficult time.”
Fire department officials said intense heat from the Tai Po blaze, along with the fact that so many floors of the seven buildings were alight, had impeded search-and-rescue efforts.
William Dai, a 45-year-old from China’s Hunan province who rented a unit in the building with his student son, watched the fire from a bridge near the estate.
“Luckily we were not home when this all happened. My unit is not burning now but you see the walls are all black. I don’t know [what] it’s like inside,” said Dai, who stayed the night at a friend’s house with his son.
Dai pointed to the bamboo scaffolding and mesh — typically used for construction in Hong Kong — that covered the buildings of the estate as they underwent renovations prior to the blaze.
“They catch fire easily. If not for these I don’t think the fire would expand so quickly from one building to all seven. And impossible to stop,” said Dai.
The renovation work may become a focus of any investigation. Officials have said protective netting, waterproof tarpaulins and plastic sheeting found on the buildings’ exterior walls may not have been up to fire safety standards. Police on Thursday said they had arrested three local men, who led the company responsible for renovation of the complex, on suspicion of manslaughter.
Public broadcaster RTHK said that police had searched an address in San Po Kong in connection with the investigation.
Chief executive John Lee said the city had established a task force to investigate the fire and whether exterior materials on the buildings met fire safety standards.
For now, the battle to contain the blaze and save lives continues.
“Look at this, every fire truck and fireman is here, but they can’t reach the top floors. It looks like it will just have to burn out if there’s no rain,” said Dai.
“Hong Kong’s buildings are built too closely to each other,” Dai added. “I just hope there are no more people still trapped in there. The neighbours I know all got out but I don’t know. It’s just horrible.”
