Toronto resident Paul Chow was devastated when the apartment where he grew up made international news this week after a raging inferno tore through seven highrise towers in Hong Kong, leaving more than 100 dead and hundreds missing. 

It has been a roller-coaster of emotions for Chow, who has gone from worry to sadness, distress and anger as he watched in horror, seeing the place he was born and lived for more than 30 years engulfed in flames, and knowing many of his former neighbours were still unaccounted for. 

“I want to cry and feel speechless,” said Chow, adding that the tragedy has kept him up at night. 

The deadly fire, which was the worst in Hong Kong in decades, ripped through much of the eight-block Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Wednesday. 

The blaze jumped rapidly from one building to the next as foam panels and bamboo scaffolding covered in green mesh netting installed by a construction company caught fire.

Hong Kong Fire Services said it took firefighters a day to get the fire under control, noting it was fully extinguished by Friday morning, about 40 hours after it started. 

Chow was a former councillor of Tai Po District in Hong Kong before moving to Toronto in 2022. He said the apartment complex is a little more than 40 years old, and most residents who live in the Wong Fuk Court are seniors.

Chow said his parents and his sister live on the seventh floor in one of the buildings, and he rushed to get in touch with them as soon as he saw the news. 

Fortunately, Chow said his parents were on vacation when the fire broke out, and his sister was at work. 

He said that although his loved ones are safe and now temporarily staying at a family member’s home, his parents still aren’t allowed to go inside to check the conditions of the unit.

Before the fire broke out, the Wang Fuk Court complex had been under renovation, with exterior walls of the highrises being shrouded in green mesh netting and bamboo scaffolding.