Agonising wait for hundreds missing after Hong Kong blaze

“hang in there.”

These were Mr Chung’s last words to his wife after a massive fire destroyed their high-rise public housing complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district.

It was around 15:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Wednesday when she received her panicked call. She said she couldn’t leave their flat with their cat.

He reached home from work and saw that the 31-storey building was on fire and black smoke was coming out of it. It took nearly 24 hours for firefighters in the Chinese region to bring the blaze under control that engulfed seven tower blocks, killing at least 83 people so far.

About 300 people are still missing – Mr Chung’s wife is among the missing.

The BBC spoke to several residents who were not at home or managed to escape in time. Some people, like Mr. Chung, are waiting outside the burning buildings, against hope. All of them told the BBC that there were no alarms warning them of the danger.

Mr Chung, 45, and his brother spent Wednesday night on the road and asked firefighters dozens of times for updates – but they could give them none.

The entire time, he said, he and his wife kept calling each other, worried and scared. She told him that she was about to faint as the smoke became darker.

“She probably fainted,” Mr Chung told BBC Chinese on Thursday, his eyes red with tears. “I don’t dare call him again.”

Considering that it had been several hours since they had spoken, he was prepared for the worst. “She died along with our cat, whom she loved,” he said, crying. His wife was the only one in the family who did not go to work or school on Wednesday.

The Chungs moved into Wang Cheong House a decade ago – the first of Tai Po’s seven tower blocks that went up in flames. When the fire broke out, Mr. Chung says, on the 23rd floor, where he lived, the smoke became so thick within just 10 minutes that his wife could not find a way out.

The cause of the fire is still unclear, but authorities believe renovations using flammable materials and scaffolding helped spread the blaze that has now become the deadliest fire in Hong Kong in six decades.

It engulfed seven of the eight buildings in Wang Fuk Court, a subsidized housing estate built in 1983 in the north of Hong Kong Island – including 1,800 units where the city’s wealthy live.

According to the 2021 census, approximately 40% of Wang Fuc Court residents are aged 65 or older.

This is partly why it is feared that so many residents are trapped – because they are older and less likely to get out quickly.

Ms Fung, 40, has still not been able to find her mother. He and his parents had moved to the estate last year to enjoy the ocean views. Her father and she were at work when the fire broke out.

Ms Fung received a call from her neighbor, who said he was hiding inside the toilet with Ms Fung’s mother. But their contact was lost at midnight on Wednesday.

Still, he remains hopeful: “We’ll think about our next step after my mother comes out.”

She asked the police for help, but she says she was furious when the police called her back and asked if it was possible that her mother could somehow have survived.

He demanded to know how this was possible: “You know better than us how badly the Wang Cheong House is burnt!”

On social media, posts about missing elderly relatives, children and pets are constantly circulating.

A desperate mother wrote: “I still haven’t found my baby. It’s been almost 30 hours and no update from the fire service…”

In a later post he said, “I’m afraid there is no hope.”

The devastation has highlighted the expensive and controversial renovation of Wang Fuc Court, which cost approximately HK$330M ($42.2M; £32.1M), with each family paying between HK$160,000 and HK$180,000.

Many residents opposed the project due to cost but it went ahead. Authorities have now arrested three officials of the construction company, citing “gross negligence”. Police say the mesh and plastic sheets used on the scaffolding were of substandard quality and the windows were wrapped in highly flammable Styrofoam.

Grandmother Chan, a longtime resident, says she has been frightened by the scale since renovations began last year and that she would sometimes notice the smell of burning. “Will anything happen if I stay home?” he once asked his daughter.

The 72-year-old woman was alone at home when the fire broke out but she came to know about it only when her daughter, who was traveling in South Korea, called. She says she escaped alive because her daughter told her to run.

This was also the case for 82-year-old Grandma Wu. She was playing mahjong, a popular game, with her neighbors when the fire broke out. They were warned not by any alarm, but by phone calls from their husbands.

But he said they continued playing because there were three buildings between them and Wang Cheong House, where the fire started. Then a second call came, saying that the fire had reached their building. The women immediately took the lift and reached the ground floor.

Surrounded by the smell of burning buildings, Grandma Wu looked up to find that seven of the eight buildings in the complex were engulfed in flames.

Although she was safe, she remained out overnight with her assistant. She says that her son wanted to take her to his home but she refused.

“I have been living in this flat for 42 years,” she says. “I told my son not to come, and I will not go anywhere. I will have to sit here and see how it happens. Only after the fire is extinguished will my heart find peace.”

When this happens, a new battle begins for many residents who have invested their life savings in purchasing these homes.

Kyle Ho, 32, moved into the complex with his retired parents three years ago. Despite the discounted price, he needed a mortgage to buy a house in Wang Phuc Court. Now, they don’t know what will happen next.

The Hong Kong government has announced HK$10,000 in cash relief and a HK$300m relief fund for displaced families. This may be some relief to Mr. Ho.

“The worst-case scenario is that we have lost our flat,” he says. “But the most important thing is that we are all safe. We are luckier than many other families.”

For people like Mr Chung, the wait continues as officials insist they have not refused to rescue people. “We have not given up,” he said earlier Thursday.

Mr. Chung is also determined to find his wife. “I want to save her – whether she’s alive or gone.”