TAI PO, Hong Kong — A devastating overnight five-alarm fire that tore through the Hing Fuk Estate apartment complex in Tai Po, causing multiple casualties and widespread destruction, has prompted firsthand accounts from survivors, including a secondary school student who narrowly escaped the blaze just days before his birthday. The student, who is preparing for the crucial Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) examinations next year, shared a visceral description of losing his home and possessions on social media, illustrating the sudden trauma inflicted on the community.
The harrowing experience unfolded last Wednesday, May 26, shortly after the student returned home from sitting for a DSE listening exam. His initial plan to rest before tackling biology studies and celebrating his approaching birthday on Friday was abruptly interrupted around lunchtime. Startled awake by family members yelling “fire drill,” he initially underestimated the gravity of the situation.
“I didn’t think it was serious,” the student recounted in a lengthy post on the social media platform Threads. Clinging only to what he termed “the essential escape trinity”—presumably a small bag containing vital documents or simple necessities—he fled the flat, still wearing slippers. “I never imagined this departure would be permanent,” he wrote, reflecting on the speed and finality of the disaster.
Minutes Separated Survival from Catastrophe
The swiftness with which the inferno consumed the building became apparent moments after the family reached safety. Looking back, the student observed the exit route they had just taken. “Five minutes later, the place we ran out of was completely sealed off by fire,” he stated. This realization brought home the thin margin between survival and being trapped inside. He attributed his escape to sheer luck, noting, “If the heavens weren’t watching over me, I might not have made it out.”
The scale of the personal loss became tragically apparent once he examined the contents of his small bag. “I realized what I was carrying was now everything I owned,” he lamented. School uniforms, textbooks, a guitar, athletic shoes, and jerseys—all were consumed as the fire rapidly spread across multiple sections of the estate, moving sequentially from Hing Hong House to Hing Tai House, and then on to remaining structures.
Amid the mounting devastation, which left him feeling utterly isolated, the student described a mental state of desperate prayer for rain or a halt in the wind, only to witness the fire continue its relentless trajectory. “There was nothing left in my heart but despair,” he confessed.
Community Grief and Loss of a Peer
The tragedy deepened for the student when his school formally notified attendees of a shocking loss: a classmate had perished in the fire. Though not close friends, the student described often crossing paths with the peer during the school commute, making the death profoundly difficult to process. “Even though we weren’t familiar, knowing they are just gone is hard to accept,” he wrote.
Local authorities, including the Home Affairs Department, have established temporary condolence points across the 18 districts for affected residents and the wider public to mourn those lost. The government, aiming to provide ordered support, is also coordinating an online platform to manage and match material donations for displaced residents.
The collective trauma experienced by those impacted by the Tai Po fire underscores the immense psychological and material challenges facing the community as they grapple with emergency recovery and the sudden, irreversible loss of home and life. Support services and resources remain critical as survivors navigate the rebuilding process, especially for young people like the DSE candidate whose vital formative years have been violently interrupted by catastrophe.
Leave a Reply