Hong Kong fire survivor recounts devastating last phone call with wife of 40 years

Hong Kong- Yip Ka-kui told News themezone that he was about to take a nap when his wife called him from the other room to tell him that a fire was breaking out in the building next door, where their son lived.

“I was very nervous. I immediately grabbed my clothes, my phone and went downstairs,” he said.

He never imagined the fire at the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in Hong Kong would end spread so fast. He tore down the bamboo scaffolding, the mesh netting that covered it and then the foam window coverings that had adorned the sprawling complex’s eight buildings for ongoing renovation work.

“I came out and saw a big fire,” he told News themezone on Monday, when the official death toll from the fire was released. rose to more than 150. “The fire was spreading everywhere and I could hear the bamboo exploding. The fire spread to the other block. The mesh caught fire.”

That other block was his own building, where he knew his wife was still upstairs. He watched as the fire spread from the sides, quickly blocking the main hallway.

“I called my wife immediately and told her there was a big fire and we had to leave now,” the 67-year-old recalls through tears. “I told my wife, don’t come down.”

He hoped firefighters could control the fire before it was too late.

On the other end of the phone, his distraught wife, Bai Shui Lin, told him she couldn’t move through the thick smoke.

“So there was a lot of noise,” he said. “I can’t hear her anymore… just noise. And then I can’t get through to her anymore. That was the last call I had with her.”

“I kept waiting, hoping the fire would be put out. I thought maybe only the outside would be affected. But the fire kept growing,” he said.

As the fire spread to seven of the complex’s buildings, Yip watched from behind a police cordon for any sign of his wife being taken out, but he never saw her.

He said he pored over lists of photographs and names of victims for days as the death toll mounted, giving their descriptions to nearby hospitals in the hope they had been rescued.

“I couldn’t find my wife,” he said through tears. “I tried everything.”

Five days later, police confirmed their worst fears in a phone call on Monday. Bai, his wife of 40 years, never made it out of their building.

The couple’s two children had to confirm her identification, but her remains were burned so badly that authorities used an identification card found in her purse to verify it was her.

Yip said he had gone door to door, warning neighbors about the fire that had spread to his building and saying he helped at least three other families get out before it was too late.

His two children survived the catastrophic fire, but Yip said he was struggling with guilt over the loss of his wife.

“If I had asked him to leave a minute earlier, I think he would have survived,” he said. “But we know her. She wouldn’t have left without telling the others.”

Hong Kong authorities said at least 30 people were still missing on Monday and recovery teams were still sweeping the seven charred buildings to find victims who failed to escape.

At least 14 people have been arrested for alleged manslaughter, as details continue to come to light of apparent violations of safety regulations related to materials on the building’s exterior. Authorities have not ruled out more arrests.