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Toronto resident Paul Chow was devastated when the condo the place he grew up made worldwide information this week after a raging inferno tore via seven highrise towers in Hong Kong, leaving greater than 100 useless and tons of lacking.
It has been a roller-coaster of feelings for Chow, who has gone from fear to disappointment, misery and anger as he watched in horror, seeing the place he was born and lived for greater than 30 years engulfed in flames, and realizing lots of his former neighbours had been nonetheless unaccounted for.
The lethal fireplace ripped via a lot of the eight-block Wang Fuk Court docket housing complicated in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Wednesday.
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Hong Kong Hearth Companies says it took firefighters a day to get the hearth underneath management, noting it was absolutely extinguished by Friday morning, about 40 hours after it began.
Chow says his dad and mom and his sister dwell on the seventh ground in one of many buildings, and he rushed to get in contact with them instantly as quickly as he noticed the information.
Fortuitously, Chow says his dad and mom had been on trip when the hearth broke out, and his sister was at work.
He says that though his family members are secure and now quickly staying at a member of the family’s residence, his dad and mom nonetheless aren’t allowed to go inside to verify the situations of the unit.
He says the inferno has left them heartbroken.
The blaze jumped quickly from one constructing to the following as foam panels and bamboo scaffolding lined in inexperienced mesh netting put in by a development firm caught fireplace.
Chow says he believes it is a human-caused incident, and he stated this “catastrophe in Hong Kong historical past” might have been prevented.
Chow says he hopes the folks and corporations who’re chargeable for the tragedy can be held accountable, including that the Hong Kong authorities ought to take extra motion to make sure affected residents have a heat place to remain as they await compensation.
World Affairs Canada estimates there are about 300,000 Canadians residing in Hong Kong.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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