A fire that engulfed the Wang Fook skyscraper complex was extinguished for two days yesterday, becoming one of the most devastating disasters in Hong Kong’s modern history. Its tragic dimensions have not yet been clarified. … accurately. The official death toll rose to 128 last night, although there are fears that number will continue to rise as rescue efforts progress.
About 200 people are still missing, and police sources alerted the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that there may be up to “one hundred” bodies inside the residential complexes. “So far the firefighters have only removed the rubble, and not collected the bodies because their priority was searching for survivors. What they did was photograph recognizable faces and write down the floor where they found them,” the agents involved in the operation explained to this medium.
These photos, “mostly of the elderly and children,” end up hanging on a large wall inside the Cuong Phuoc Community Centre, a nearby space where relatives of the missing come, searching for final answers that are as painful or more painful than the uncertainty.
With the fire already extinguished and the area’s security guaranteed, firefighters and police began a search operation up and down the buildings in the afternoon, with the aim of removing the bodies waiting inside. The operation is expected to take up to two days, given that the complex consists of eight blocks – seven of which burned – of 31 floors each with a total of 1,900 homes, most of which have been reduced to ash.
Two survivors say: “Many of our neighbors and friends have died, and we have nothing left.”
Thus, whoever maintains life has lost everything else. Kenneth Tse and his wife were at their jobs when they saw the first photos of the disaster on social media and recognized the facade of the building they lived in with horror. “We don’t know how to express what we feel. Many of our neighbors and friends have died, and we have nothing left,” they muttered as they carried a bag full of diapers for their three-year-old son. “Right now we are staying at a relative’s house.”
Firefighters remove bodies for identification
The belongings of Mabel and her husband, a couple in their 60s, have been reduced to a handbag which they drag with a bitter expression. They were also away from home when the fire broke out, and also learned that several of their neighbors had died. That’s why she admits, despite everything, that she is “lucky.” Moreover, most of the items in the bag are not even his own, but rather basic necessities obtained from the Fung Leung Kit Church of Christ High School in China, which these days serves as a shelter for displaced people who have nowhere else to go.
Only an overwhelming show of solidarity alleviates suffering. The adjacent plaza contains so much product that some cardboard draws an improvised map, as if it were a non-profit shopping mall. Hundreds of volunteers march at full speed, carrying surplus cardboard boxes. “I came this morning ready to help. “I took some bags to the shelter, but when I arrived they told me they didn’t need any more things,” says Alvin, a 30-year-old who grew up in the neighborhood. “It’s a very sad incident, they should investigate it and get to the bottom of it.”
Meanwhile, authorities are continuing their criminal investigations and yesterday arrested eight more people linked to the complex’s HK$330 million (€36 million) renovation project. These join the arrest of three officials from the company that carried out the work, on Thursday, accused of committing reckless murder for using unapproved materials.
Negligence in repair
Initial tests showed that the scaffolding network met legal standards, Security Minister Chris Tang revealed. But this was not the case, as highly flammable polystyrene sheets were placed on the windows, causing the flames to expand rapidly and break the glass, sending burning air into the homes. The specific source of the fire has not yet been clarified.
All of this points to negligent practices on the part of the company responsible for the renovation, Prestige Construction and Engineering. It has been subject to as many as sixteen inspections by the Construction Department, the official body that reported three fire protocol violations at Wang Fook Works, the last of which was on November 20. The company had already been charged in recent years for illegal practices in other construction sites.
The circumstances thus outline an avoidable disaster, but in Wang Fook, intense pain leaves no room – yet – for discontent. “I don’t think about corruption,” Nelson says with tears in his eyes. “I was very moved by this show.” “My parents lived in one of the towers but were away from home when the fire broke out. I saw the news and immediately went to pick it up. “They’re staying at my house now,” recalls the man, a worker at the City University of Hong Kong, who excitedly ended up throwing himself into the reporter’s arms in search of comfort.
In the square, hundreds of pedestrians and curious people stare in disbelief at the black specter of the seven burning blocks. Among the chatter and noise you can hear some wailing. In the corner, some old men are playing Chinese chess. A child watches them eat a piece of chocolate while his caregiver sits immersed in her mobile phone. Life, by definition, goes on.