Across the city, from Saturday until Monday, quiet queues formed at condolence points in all 18 districts as residents came to sign books of remembrance for the 128 people killed in this week’s catastrophic fire at Wang Fuk Court, the public-housing estate that became a towering inferno.
At the Fu Heng Neighbourhood Community Centre in Tai Po, one of the designated venues, neighbors arrived with heavy hearts.
Some scanned the ever-growing list of confirmed victims, searching in vain for friends they had not spoken to in years.
An elderly couple admitted they still could not reach an old acquaintance who lived in the estate and said simply watching the television coverage made them want to cry.
A woman who has lived in Tai Po for more than three decades fought back tears as she wrote a farewell message to the family of her son’s friend who perished, hoping the victims’ loved ones could somehow endure the unbearable days ahead.
Another resident described the sight of seven out of eight blocks ablaze as shocking beyond words and prayed that the dead might rest in peace while survivors find strength to carry on.
Outside the community center and at the estate itself, white flowers now blanket the ground in silent tribute.
Handwritten cards tucked among the blooms offer encouragement to the living (messages of “stay strong,” “rebuild your homes,” “never give up hope”) and gentle farewells to those who did not make it (“walk in peace,” “rest well”).
In a rare gesture of official mourning, the government has ordered national and regional flags at all public buildings, including Hong Kong offices overseas, to fly at half-mast from Saturday through Monday.
