Agonising wait for hundreds missing after Hong Kong blaze

“Stay there.”

These were the last words Mr. Chung said to his wife after a major incident. A fire broke out in a high-rise public housing complex in Hong KongTai Po district of .

It was around 15:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Wednesday when he received the panicked phone call. He said he couldn’t leave his house with his cats.

When he ran home from work, he saw the 31-storey building in flames and black smoke coming out. It took firefighters in the Chinese territory nearly 24 hours to contain the blaze, which has destroyed seven skyscrapers, including their own, and killed at least 83 people so far.

Approximately 300 people are still unaccounted for; Mr. Chung’s wife is also among the missing.

The BBC spoke to some residents who were not at home or managed to escape in time. Some, like Mr. Chung, waited desperately outside the burning buildings. They all told the BBC there was no alarm to warn them of danger.

Mr. Chung, 45, and his brother spent Wednesday night on the street asking firefighters for information dozens of times, but they could not give them any information.

He said he and his wife continued to call each other, worried and scared. He said he was about to faint as the smoke grew thicker.

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

Considering that hours had passed since their conversation, he was prepared for the worst. “He passed away along with our beloved cat,” he said, bursting into tears. The only person in the family who did not go to work or school on Wednesday was his wife.

The Chungs moved into Wang Cheong House, the first of seven skyscrapers in Tai Po to go up in flames, a decade ago. Mr. Chung says that in just 10 minutes, when the fire started, the smoke on their 23rd floor became so thick that his wife could not find her way out.

The cause of the fire remains unclear, but authorities believe renovations using flammable materials and scaffolding helped spread what became Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in 60 years.

Seven of the eight buildings consisting of 1,800 units in Wang Fuk Court, a subsidized public housing complex built in 1983 in the north of Hong Kong Island, where the city’s wealthy live, were flooded.

According to the 2021 census, approximately 40% of Wang Fuk Court residents are aged 65 and above.

It’s partly due to fears that so many residents will be stranded; because they are older and less likely to recover quickly.

Ms Fung, 40, has yet to find her mother. He and his family only moved to the property last year because of its ocean view. He and his father were at work when the fire started.

Ms. Fung received a call from her neighbor who said that Ms. Fung was hiding in the toilet with her mother. But they lost connection at midnight on Wednesday.

Still, he remains hopeful: “We will think about our next steps after my mother gets out.”

He sought help from the police, but said he became enraged when they called him back to ask if it was possible his mother had somehow escaped.

He wanted to know how this was possible: “You know much better than us how badly Wang Cheong House burned down!”

Posts about missing elderly relatives, children and pets are constantly circulating on social media.

A desperate mother wrote: “I still can’t find my daughter. It’s been almost 30 hours and there is no update from the fire department…”

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

The demolition highlighted expensive and controversial renovations at Wang Fuk Court, costing around HK$330 million ($42.2 million; £32.1 million); each household had to pay between HK$160,000 and HK$180,000.

Many residents opposed the project due to costs, but the project went ahead. Authorities arrested three managers of the construction company for “gross negligence”. Police said the mesh and plastic sheets used on the scaffolding were substandard and the windows were wrapped in highly flammable styrofoam.

Grandma Chan, who has lived in the building for a long time, says that since renovations began last year, she has been intimidated by its scale and has occasionally noticed a burning smell. “Will anything happen if I stay at home?” he once asked his daughter.

The 72-year-old man was home alone when the fire started but only found out when he called his daughter, who was traveling in South Korea. He says he managed to survive because his daughter told him to run away.

The same was true for 82-year-old Grandma Wu. He was playing mahjong, a popular game, with his neighbors when the fire broke out. They were warned not by an alarm, but by their husbands calling them.

However, he said that they continued the game because there were three buildings between their own building and Wang Cheong House, where the fire broke out. Then a second call came in saying the fire had reached the building. The women immediately took the elevator and reached the ground floor.

Surrounded by the smell of burning buildings, Grandma Wu saw that seven of the eight buildings in the complex were in flames.

Although he was safe, he spent the night outside with his assistant. He said his son wanted to take him home, but he refused.

“I’ve lived in this apartment for 42 years,” he says. “I told my son not to come, that I won’t go anywhere. I have to sit here and watch this situation progress. Only after the fire is extinguished will my heart find peace.”

When this happens, a new battle begins for many residents who spent their life savings to buy these homes.

Kyle Ho, 32, moved into the complex with his retired parents three years ago. Despite the subsidized price, they needed a mortgage to buy a house in Wang Fuk Court. They no longer know what will happen next.

The Hong Kong government announced it will provide HK$10,000 in cash assistance and HK$300 million in relief funds to displaced families. This might give Mr. Ho some relief.

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

While authorities insist they are not ruling out rescuing people, the wait continues for those like Mr Chung. “We haven’t given up,” they said early Thursday.

Mr. Chung is also determined to find his wife. “I want to save him; whether he’s alive or not.”