Grieving Hong Kong families search stark photos for fire victims
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Relatives react after identifying family members from photos at Kwong Fuk Community Hall in Tai Po, Hong Kong, on Nov 27.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Hong Kong's worst fire in decades in Tai Po killed at least 75, injured hundreds, and displaced more, leading to a victim identification station being set up.
- Distraught relatives searched for missing loved ones, viewing photos of the dead, with many requiring support from social workers due to the emotional toll.
- Many people are still unaccounted for, and Indonesian officials say that two Indonesian nationals had died in the fire.
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HONG KONG - A middle-aged woman emerged, weeping and clinging to her companion, from a community hall now used as a victim identification station in the shadow of smouldering apartment towers that mark Hong Kong’s worst fire in decades.
Dozens passed through the station on Nov 27 desperately seeking news of loved ones after the blaze tore through a residential estate in the northeastern district of Tai Po, killing at least 75 people and injuring and displacing hundreds more.
The small hall was set up so people could look through dozens of pictures of the dead. A makeshift sign on a nearby wall read simply: “Photo-viewing.”
Paramedics and social workers stood ready inside.
“I cannot find my family members in the photos... If they have more photos, I may come again to take a look,” said a woman surnamed Cheung, whose sister and brother-in-law are missing.
“I cannot describe my feelings. There were children...” an emotional Ms Cheung said, after leafing through the pages of photos.
Ms Karen Lam, a social worker running a support centre next door, told AFP that her team had seen “a few cases” of distraught residents who required help.
The mood was sombre as people waited in groups to be led in, with onlookers being kept away by police and media access limited.
A 77-year-old man surnamed Lai said he wanted to help his sister identify a missing friend.
“(The friend) didn’t reply to messages. We can’t say for sure the worst has happened, maybe fortune smiles on them,” Mr Lai said.
‘My superhero’
Hong Kong leader John Lee said in the early hours of Nov 27 that 297 people were unaccounted for, although firefighters said later they had made contact with some of them.
Ms Yayuk, a 40-year-old Indonesian woman, told AFP she could not find her elder sister, Sri-Wahyuni, who worked and lived in a household in the estate.
“I couldn’t sleep the whole night. This morning, I went to the consulate to ask if she was checked into the hospital,” she said.
The Indonesian consulate in Hong Kong said on Nov 27 that two Indonesian nationals had been killed in the fire and two others injured.
On Nov 27, dozens of relatives passed through a victim identification station set up near the destroyed apartment blocks.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Some family members of the deceased travelled to a mortuary in the city’s Shatin district to identify bodies, Hong Kong media reported.
Among the dead was a 37-year-old firefighter, who was found with burns to his face half an hour after losing contact with colleagues.
A woman reported to be his girlfriend wrote on social media that she had lost her “superhero”, posting a black-and-white picture.
“My superhero has completed his mission and returned to Krypton. I’m proud of you,” she wrote.
“I really can’t accept this. I really, really want to hold your hand again.” AFP
