'There Should Have Been an Alarm': In Smoke-Filled Air, People in Hong Kong Feel Shock and Anger

More than 24 hours after the fire broke out in the first tower, the residential complex in Hong Kong was still burning. Fire crews were pumping water from aerial ladders at mid-levels, but above that, the flames remained out of reach.

The Wang Fuk Court complex, located in the northern Tai Po area of Hong Kong, was home to about 4,800 people. The eight-tower complex had been under renovation for years, covered in bamboo scaffolding and netting.

On Wednesday afternoon, for reasons under investigation, a fire ignited in one of the towers. The flames spread inside the building and then crossed to adjacent towers. By evening, seven buildings were ablaze, and the death toll had already surpassed the worst fire disaster in Hong Kong's history.

At least 65 people have died, including one firefighter, with dozens injured. At least 55 people were rescued, but more than 270 are missing. Fire crews are still unable to reach the upper levels of some 31-story towers, although an elderly man was rescued from his apartment earlier in the day.

The air was still filled with acrid smoke, reminding some of how the city smelled during the worst violence of the 2019 protests. Panic erupted when a shimmering light in a window of a different block was mistaken for another fire, and onlookers exchanged tense glances as the breeze picked up: Wednesday's fire was driven by strong winter winds, said James Tang, who lives in one of the towers.

Tang was not home when the fire broke out. He received a call from his sister-in-law who saw it from across the river. He rushed home but was stopped from entering.

"I watched from outside as the building burned," he said, speaking to The Guardian outside a local primary school, which is one of the shelters for evacuated residents.

Tang's friends in the complex are not among the missing, he said. "But many people have died, especially the firefighter. We are very sorry about that. The firefighter tried to save us from the flames, tried to stop the fire, and then lost his life."

Nearby, volunteers set up a market for clothing, food, and essentials donated to the now-displaced residents of Wang Fuk Court and hundreds of others temporarily evacuated from nearby buildings.

Koni Chow had just returned home after grocery shopping to the apartment she had lived in for 42 years when she saw a crowd of fire trucks. Her neighbor told her to leave, although none of them heard a fire alarm.

"There should have been [an alarm]," she said. "When I went out, I saw one building on fire; it was a terrible, huge fire. We were very worried."

Chow and her neighbors were lucky - their building was the only one among the eight in the complex that did not burn.

"I have a friend who lives in one of the other buildings, and she is in the hospital. Her condition seems serious. I spoke to her on the phone yesterday; she said a lot of smoke entered her home."

The community is in shock, and some are angry: police suspect the fire was caused by "grossly negligent conduct." Hong Kong police claimed that unsafe scaffolding and foam materials used during maintenance may have been behind the rapid spread of the flames, and three people from the construction company involved have been arrested. The Independent Commission Against Corruption has already announced the formation of a task force.

There have been long-standing complaints about the renovations, including allegations that alarms were turned off months ago by workers and that workers were smoking on site. There were also broader concerns about the safety standards of the netting used at construction sites. A widely circulated video on Thursday shows a local council member igniting a piece of green netting used in construction and watching it melt and burn rapidly.

By nightfall on Thursday, the surrounding area was still filled with people - emergency services, onlookers, neighbors, victims, and their families. Outside a building, the deceased were being identified, and people left crying, clinging to each other. Some wore blankets over their heads to avoid the cameras.

Pastor Samson Wong, from the Church of the Covenant, was waiting with a crowd of volunteers to provide emotional and psychological support to families who lost loved ones.

"They have enough physical supplies, but they need emotional support," he said.