Sawt Falasteen - 'Couldn’t do anything': deadly Hong Kong fire devours homes of thousands

The blaze has claimed at least 36 lives, with authorities reporting that over 270 people remain unaccounted for.

It started on Wednesday afternoon and was still burning in the early hours of Thursday, shocking the financial hub with some of the world's most densely populated and tallest apartment blocks.

Sounds of bamboo scaffolding burning and exploding could be heard at the site. Thick smoke billowed upward from buildings.

"Has anyone been rescued?" a man at the scene asked into his cell phone.

Since opening on Wednesday evening, residents kept arriving at the shelter to report family members they had lost contact with.

Some sat dazed, looking with reddened eyes at cell phone screens as they hoped for news of missing loves ones.

Social workers distributed blankets and pillows to the elderly to help them endure the nighttime chill.

A police officer told AFP on Wednesday evening that it was unclear how many people were unaccounted for because residents were still trickling in late into the night to report.

Ng, in her 60s and declining to give her full name, said her windows were locked when the fire broke out.

She initially didn't realise it was a fire but assumed the sounds were firecrackers.

Her heart was pounding as she and her family hurriedly evacuated their 19th-floor home, where they had lived for over four decades, she said outside the shelter.

A 65-year-old resident surnamed Yuen said his neighbourhood is home to many elderly residents who use wheelchairs and walkers, and the fire left him and his wife homeless.

He said that since the apartment complex was undergoing maintenance, many residents kept their windows shut. So they did not hear the fire alarm.

"There is loss of property and loss of life, and even a firefighter has died," Yuen said.

Some citizens have spontaneously donated supplies and delivered them to various shelters set up after the fire.

- 'Heart is tingling'-

Logan Yeung, a 29-year-old volunteer, said he would remain on-site to provide support until rescue operations concluded.

"My heart is tingling," he told AFP, adding that he believes construction issues were the cause of the incident.

Deadly fires were once a regular scourge in densely populated Hong Kong, especially in poorer neighbourhoods.

However, safety measures have been ramped up in recent decades and such fires have become much less commonplace.

But residents nearby said they had never anticipated the flames would spread to other buildings with the wind and burn all night long.

Shirley Chan, a 50-something housewife from a nearby neighbourhood, told AFP that she "watched the fire burn and couldn't do anything".

"We also didn't know what everyone could do," she said.

City leader John Lee said Thursday that a task force will be set up to investigate the fire and the results will be submitted to the coroner.

"(The government) needs to provide an explanation to the public," Chan added.

R.Halabi--SF-PST