Hong Kong fire victims long for home as Lunar New Year stirs painful memories
Smoke rises after a fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong's New Territories, Nov. 26 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei, File)2026-02-09T23:00:35Z HONG KONG (AP) The deadliest fire in Hong Kong in decades last year left thousands of residents without some of their friends, family or the place they called home. More than two months later, the occupants of the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex are not only waiting for answers about what happened, but longing for a new place. Authorities are yet to unveil plans for long-term resettlement after surveying the residents preferences. The Lunar New Year on Feb. 17, meanwhile, is stirring recent memories of celebrating the festival in what is now a largely burnt complex.The massive blaze that engulfed seven apartment buildings killed 168 people on Nov. 26, 2025, shattering a close-knit community. Authorities blamed substandard scaffolding netting and foam boards from the buildings maintenance project for rapidly spreading the fire. Although some arrests were made, an independent committee is still investigating the cause.The Associated Press talked to four families who lived in the complex or lost their loved ones there. Heres what they said: No place to call homeWhen flames devoured towers of the Wang Fuk Court complex, Pearl Chow, 87, fled her apartment with essential documents, like her title deed. Her grandson, Dorz Cheung, 33, rushed from his office to find her safe nearby, but the fire was raging.That night, Chow went to a friends home and didnt sleep, while Cheung watched the flames for hours, crying while clutching his friend. They both miss old photos lost in their home in Tai Po, a suburban district in the citys north. Now they are separated into two temporary housing units on separate floors, each around 100 square feet (9.2 square meters). Chow was satisfied, but Cheung couldnt call it home. Only permanent residence is called home. Thats the root, he said. Chow still regularly returns to Tai Po for church and grocery shopping, despite the hourlong journey. They want to be resettled in Tai Po, where they lived for decades, in a unit about the same size as their old apartment. I am an elderly person. When they finish building, I may have gone to my heavenly home, she said with a laugh. Data from the 2021 population census showed over one-third of some 4,600 residents in the complex were aged 65 or above. While the government proposed measures to combat bid-rigging in building maintenance and enhance fire safety in January, Cheung feels their resettlement hasnt been addressed. He said he lost his sense of security with the authorities after the blaze. We can only wait, be tossed around like a ball, he said.A temporary refuge Kit Chan, 74, lived in her 460-square-foot (43-square-meter) apartment for over 40 years and raised her children with her husband in the complex, where neighbors helped look after each others children. Chan had planned to spend the rest of her life there, but the blaze forced the couple into a studio unit at a youth hostel half the size of their apartment. Weeks ago, they heard some fire victims were asked to move out, and that distressed her. Its like being unable to get by in my final years, she said. She hasnt been asked to leave, but is uncertain how long they can stay. Chan initially wanted to be resettled in a new home built on the fire site, but the government estimates rebuilding will take about a decade too long for her to wait. She can compromise on a similar-sized apartment in another district with good transport.Her husband, Keung Mak, 78, hopes they can return to their old home just to have a look. It has memories like their family and wedding photos. Many people hope they can at least see how badly it was burned, Mak said.Weighing time against placeDuring past Lunar New Year celebrations, Isaac Tams family used to visit neighbors on their floor with gifts. Now, the familiar faces he has known for years are scattered across the city. The loss of their two apartments in the fire was heartbreaking. His parents cried, and his 92-year-old grandfather grew thinner. But Tam, 23, said at least all his family members were alive.Last weekend, they were preparing to move into temporary homes, smaller than their old apartments and farther from the city center. They shelled out money to renovate them. While he said the governments handling is not as bad as some say, he still worries about his grandfather adjusting to a new district with temporary housing. Back in Tai Po, the grandfather used to have a morning dim sum routine with his friends. As they await the governments resettlement plans, they have been weighing apartments in another district that will be ready sooner than units in Tai Po, which he prefers because he grew up there. Time is their priority, given the grandfathers age, Tam said. I also fear he cant wait until we secure an apartment of about 400 square feet (about 37 square meters), he said, regardless of the district. Grieving for mother and hanging on to memories Phyllis Los mother called her after seeing thick smoke outside her door when the blaze started. On the call, knowing she might not survive, her 74-year-old mother asked Lo, 48, and her brother to live well. Lo immediately rushed to her childhood home and called again minutes later. No one answered. The next morning, police told her they found her mothers body. After learning that a mix of issues including substandard materials were used in the building maintenance project and failed fire alarms, Lo wondered if the tragedy could have been avoided if each government department had done a better job. While she couldnt determine who should bear responsibility, she blamed herself for not monitoring the project for her mother more closely. What bothers her most is the lack of transparency when she can see her burnt apartment, how authorities will use the $589 million relief fund. She hopes to get updates from the nine-month investigation. She wants her childhood home rebuilt at the fire site, but considers the proposed timeline of about a decade unreasonably long.As the Lunar New Year neared, Lo made turnip cakes a tradition she inherited from her mother. Maybe she is still everywhere and still seeing us now. I really want to be with her, she said in tears. Rebuilding community is challenging In an emailed reply to The Associated Press questions, the government said it attached great importance to the residents long-term accommodation arrangements and had already received survey replies from over 95% of the homeowners. It did not give a timeline but said its task force is analyzing their preferences and that the government will announce the plans after finalizing them. Jack Rozdilsky, professor of disaster and emergency management at York University in Canada, said the city is moving to a disaster recovery phase and noted that concrete plans for continuous mental health and trauma coping aid play a key role in long-term success for any resettlement measure. Rozdilsky saw the community survey on resettlement as a good sign because a one-size-fits-all proposal will not satisfy the households. While rebuilding living spaces is complicated, he said, reconstructing a community is much harder. He said understanding what promoted community at the housing complex before the fire and incorporating those features be it a bus stop or a gathering point in a park would help. Very small things matter, he said. KANIS LEUNG Leung covers Hong Kong, Macao and mainland China for The Associated Press. She is based in Hong Kong. twitter
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