Flowers, tears and calls for accountability at Kowloon Funeral Parlour memorial

Dozens of citizens gathered at Kowloon Funeral Parlour on Tuesday to lay white flowers and pay tribute to the victims of the five-alarm blaze at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court, as the city marked the seventh day after the tragedy.

The hall, draped in white floral arrangements and a banner reading “Forever Remembered,” opened early to a steady flow of mourners who came to bow, pray and stand in silent remembrance.

Many arrived with lilies and chrysanthemums in hand. Some paused at the entrance before entering the candle-lit hall, while others left wreaths signed simply as “Hongkongers,” accompanied by handwritten messages wishing the deceased peace.

For many, the grief remained raw.

One woman broke down as she spoke about the fire. “As a Hong Kong person, it hurts so much to see something like this happen,” she said, wiping away tears. She urged the government to “give the victims the justice they deserve,” strengthen supervision of building repairs and “help Hongkongers get through this together.”

Nearby, another resident bowed three times before the flower stand. He said the scale of the tragedy made it impossible to stay silent. “So many lives were lost. It’s heartbreaking,” he said.

He called for the independent committee pledged by the government to be genuinely autonomous. “It has to be truly independent — separate from the government and any vested interests — and it must have the legal power to investigate everyone involved.”

Some mourners expressed frustration at what they believed was a preventable disaster. “This fire should never have happened,” said an elderly man who had traveled from Sha Tin. “Checking only the lower-level scaffold netting is not enough. The whole system needs proper supervision.”

Among the visitors was a Form Six student from a nearby secondary school, who came during his lunch break. He described a somber mood on campus.

“Everyone is sad. Some classmates have been praying for the victims,” he said, adding that social workers and counselors had been deployed to support students. The incident, he said, made him reflect on his future. “I hope I can do a job that helps people one day.”

Kowloon Funeral Parlour general manager Bryan Kam Leung-tak said the memorial space was created to help the public grieve and to offer families some solace. “The fire has caused so much pain. We hope this can give people a place to express their sorrow,” he said.

Kam added that the parlour had already received inquiries from around 10 families of the deceased. To support them, it has invited a specialist embalming team from Taiwan to offer funeral and body restoration services free of charge. He said the outpouring of community support had been deeply moving, with volunteers showing up unprompted — including healthcare workers offering assistance with body restoration.

“Everyone is using whatever skills they have to help,” Kam said. “It shows how much people in Hong Kong care.”

As candles flickered beneath the “Forever Remembered” banner, residents continued to file in quietly — a city united in grief, still searching for answers, and determined not to let the tragedy fade without accountability.