For months after a devastating fire tore through seven Hong Kong apartment towers last year, the complex was sealed off to residents.
This spring, residents were allowed to return to the ruins of the complex, Wang Fuk Court. Some homes were eerily frozen in time, with bowls still filled with food. In other apartments, residents sifted through the ashes with mesh baskets searching for anything that survived.
The fire killed 168 people, most likely because of unscrupulous contractors who used shoddy materials. Behind that toll are individual losses, told here through what people carried out of the debris.
We asked residents who lost their loved ones to share their stories, in their own words. Their accounts below have been translated from Cantonese and condensed and edited for clarity.
Shirley Ng, 54.
Her daughter and husband died in the fire.
She found the remnants of her daughter’s iPad in the debris.
Whenever I pass by restaurants that we went to together, I stand outside and think to myself: if only she were here with me. I know it’s magical thinking.
She had just graduated from university — the same one her father had attended.
My husband was a good citizen. He liked to sing and dance. He didn’t have a temper. He played the erhu and was part of a Chinese orchestra. We had a piano at home for our daughter. All of it has been burned away.
I used a basket to sift through the debris and found a few things: my husband’s glasses, the remnants of my daughter’s iPad that she used to draw with, some jewelry and a watch that I bought for her when she started secondary school. The watch cost around $240, which was quite a lot of money for me, but I wanted her to have it.
Ms. Ng is mourning her daughter, Piano Chiang, 23, and her husband, Peter Chiang, 62.
Yip Ka Kui, 68.
His wife died in the fire.
He found her watch along with his wedding ring.
The diamonds caught a ray of light and sparkled. I wiped off the soot and ash and saw that it was my wedding ring. Our rings had an identical design: three diamonds inlaid on a diagonal line. We kept them together by our bed. I couldn’t find my wife’s ring.
We met at a factory that produced radios and cassette players. She was a line leader and I was a repairman. We got married in 1981. She was very frugal. It took a lot of convincing to get her to buy something. Or I’d just have to buy it myself.
We had a very ordinary life. We would do everything together. We were always together. At home, I would watch TV while she played video games. Sometimes, we would get into arguments and fight about small things. She would nag me for not putting my shoes away. Now, I have no one to bicker with.
It’s tough. I miss her constantly.
This watch was from Seiko, a Japanese brand. It wasn’t too expensive and, most importantly, she liked the style. She didn’t want anything too flashy.
Mr. Yip is mourning his wife, Pak Shui Lin, 66.
Polly Luk, 40s.
Her mother died in the fire.
She is holding a ceramic pomelo that her mother bought on a trip they took together.
I was born with a congenital heart disease, and I have a lot of chronic health issues. My mom took great care of me. She was a great chef and would make steamed chicken, my favorite lamb chops, choy sum, stir-fried egg and tomato.
She worked as a home health aide for the elderly. She would bring them to their doctor’s appointments and go to their homes to cook and clean. She had to travel quite far for work and she didn’t earn very much.
During a trip to Foshan, China, we visited a street where they sold handmade ceramics. My mom picked out a ceramic pomelo. She chose one that was especially round and fat with a vibrant color to bring our family peace and good luck. We kept it in our living room.
Her body was found in the hallway. If she had stayed in our home, we might not have found her remains. Our apartment was completely destroyed.
Ms. Luk is mourning her mother, Tsang Lai Wah, 71.
Lee Chun Ho, 40, his father, Simon Lee, 70, and his sister-in-law, Esther Chan, 38.
Lee Chun Ho lost his mother, brother, niece and the domestic worker who cared for their family. He saved one of the figurines his brother built.
Esther Chan lost her husband, daughter and mother-in-law. She held on to her daughter’s shoes.
Lee Chun Ho: My mother was very smart. She could intuit things — she knew what people were going to say before they even said them. She was very influential in the community and a sharp thinker.
My brother liked to build figurines. My parents told me that when we were kids, I would destroy them. But my brother never scolded me. He was a good brother and a good dad. He was at home that day because he had worked the overnight shift at the hospital, and he was resting. He had one more overnight shift before a planned vacation. The six of us were going to go to Taiwan together.
Esther Chan: Back at the apartment, I found bowls on the table still filled with food they were eating that night. Yan Yan still had half a bottle of milk there — that was tough to see. I started to imagine what their last moments might have been like.
After gathering their belongings, I got home and lay in bed, surrounded by all the things we found. It made me feel a bit better.
Chun Man was crazy about our daughter. She was the center of his life. When she went outside, she would always pick out her own shoes and clothes. We bought her so many pairs of shoes.
The Lee family is mourning Yip Pik Yi, 65; Lee Chun Man, 44; Yan Yan, 15 months; and Erawati, 34, a domestic worker from Indonesia. Read more about the Lee family.
Lee Kwok Hung, 70.
His mother died in the fire along with two domestic workers.
He found an old photograph of him and his mother.
My mom cared for my grandfather after he had a stroke. That was very tough. Then, my dad had a stroke and she looked after him, too. She never complained. About a decade ago, she had a stroke. She couldn’t look after herself anymore so we hired domestic workers.
Dina was good to my mom. She made mashed pumpkin for her and steamed a whole fish and took out the bones. She worried about my mother at night and started sleeping on the floor next to her. Darwati had been there for about six months.
I attended their funeral at a mosque in Hong Kong, and their bodies were sent back to their families in Indonesia the next day.
I found an old photograph of me and my mother on a vacation in the Philippines. That was our first trip abroad together. We went sightseeing around Manila and went white-water rafting in a wooden boat. She was very happy on that trip.
Mr. Lee is mourning his mother, Tam Wei Ping, 91. She died with her caregivers, Dina-Martiana, 38, and Darwati, 48, both of whom were migrant workers from Indonesia.
Phyllis Lo, 49.
Her mother died in the fire.
She holds a denim vest her mother sewed.
We moved to Wang Fuk Court when I was in first grade. My dad was rarely around. He gambled and debt collectors would come to the house. My parents divorced when I was in secondary school.
My mother was very hard working and accomplished a lot on her own. She was a single mom. She earned money to support us and paid for our tuition and piano lessons all by herself. She even took on a second job as a cashier at the Jockey Club’s racecourse on race nights. Later on, she worked as a nanny. She also worked as an office clerk and janitor.
After she retired, she found a few pairs of jeans that no longer fit. She was the kind of person who didn’t want to waste anything. She taught herself how to sew and turned the jeans into denim vests. She did everything by hand. When I saw them, I said, “That is so cute and unique!” She made one for me with my name embroidered on the back.
Ms. Lo is mourning her mother, Ying Lo, 74.
Holly Cheung, 38.
Her two toy poodles died in the fire.
She found a Snoopy toy that belonged to them.
About a month before the fire, I ran into my neighbors in the elevator: a mother and her young daughter. They told me that every night, the little girl would hear my dogs barking and walk over to my door. She would say, “Hi, doggies!” I thought this family was so sweet. I promised to bring my dogs to their apartment one day so the child could play with them. Then, the fire happened.
My mom got sick and died when I was very young. This home meant a lot to me. It was my connection to my mother. We were together for such a short time and that was at Wang Fuk Court.
After the fire, I got a replacement copy of my birth certificate from the government. They printed it out and I was surprised to see the address was Wang Fuk Court, Wang Cheong House. All this time, while I was living there, I didn’t think too much about it. It wasn’t anything special. But for as long as I live, this address will remain on my birth certificate.
Ms. Cheung’s dogs were Bom Bom, 8, and Ungi, 6.
