The charred ruins of Yip Shun-Ting Carbon's flat at Wang Fuk Court stand as a haunting reminder of Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades. Ashes and memories intertwine as one family returns to the site of the tragedy, which claimed 168 lives, including Yip's mother, Pak Shui-lin.
The Yip family once dreamed of moving to a country house, with three generations under one roof and a vegetable garden away from Hong Kong's dense high-rises. A devastating fire, the worst since 1948, stole that future, leaving behind rubble and blackened walls.
'Whatever we can retrieve is a bonus,' says Yip, 36, who lost his mother in the inferno last November. The blaze ravaged a large residential complex under renovation. Last week, Yip, his wife, older brother, and father formed a small crew, wearing backpacks, hard hats, and heavy-duty face masks, as they re-entered the wreckage of their family home for the first time.
A Painful Return
'When I go to sleep every night, I imagine what the flat might now look like,' Yip says. 'I see fragments of images of every window in flames, then I think about why this could have happened.' The authorities issued each household a strict three-hour time slot to salvage belongings, and the clock starts on entry. Yip took a few minutes to gather himself before stepping into the chaos.
Nothing prepared him for the sight at the open doorway where their front door used to be. Everything was covered in soot. Some items had melted into piles of hardened plastic, unrecognisable. The family divided the sixth-floor flat by zone, with a mental map of where valuables might be. First: the crystal bracelet and brooch his mother gave to his wife, Karen.
Yip's mother had stayed behind to knock on neighbours' doors, saving four lives. Her body was found back inside her flat in another block of the same complex.
Salvaging Memories
As they continued their search, a crystal block commemorating their pet dog, computers, diplomas, and years-worth of collectible Gundam figurines were thrown into bags and charred suitcases. The family stuffed decades of their life into grey cubicles at a mini storage facility.
'It's a little bit of comfort, knowing we found everything we really cared about,' Yip says, as he and his wife wipe soot off each other. The visit felt like a rehearsal, as the family prepares to revisit their parents' flat in the next block, where the boys grew up and where their mother died.
Yip and his father are among thousands displaced from their former homes in the north-eastern suburb of Tai Po. Hong Kong is still reeling from the shock of the blaze, searching for answers to what could have caused a disaster comparable to London's Grenfell Tower fire.
Living in Limbo
Residents were led back into the buildings in small groups, flanked by a social worker and a police officer. The buildings are 31 storeys high, and only the stairs can be used. Elderly residents came with canes and walking frames. Charities and volunteers withdrew after officials announced entry restrictions. At least one flat had been burgled, causing further trauma.
Yip grew up in the neighbourhood after his parents moved to Wang Fuk Court over two decades ago. It's where he met Karen, when they both served as volunteer paramedics. After they married, they bought a flat in the same compound in 2021. His mother often helped with the grandchildren. For dinner, Yip and his wife would head to the parents' place twice a week.
'I've lived here all my life,' Yip says. 'It's hard to find somewhere else that can replace where I've lived for 20, 30 years.' After the fire, Yip resigned from his job. He and his wife are staying in his brother's flat, with seven family members crammed into a three-bedroom unit.
Seeking Justice
For the past month, Yip has commuted daily to the independent inquiry hearings. His father, Yip Ka-kui, alleged in his testimony that authorities took no action on his complaints about renovation works. He has vowed to seek justice for the remainder of his life. Authorities rejected calls for an ownership association meeting and presented a plan to repurchase homes at rates residents say are undervalued.
'I don't dare to think what life in the next two or three years will look like,' Yip says. 'Maybe the city will forget what happened, then the government won't have to care about our voices and feelings any more.'
