Hong Kong fire victims to return to burned homes

He knows what he will see and he’s already hurting, but he has to go back. For the first time since Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades engulfed his apartment in November, Keung Mak will step into it again on Monday. But he expected little remained. A photo from his social worker had already shown the devastation. The ceiling of the apartment where he and his wife lived for over 40 years and raised their children was burned so badly that steel rebar was visible. The floor was littered with broken tiles, and parts of the apartment needed reinforcement to prevent collapse. “My heart is heavy, I’m very disappointed. I didn’t expect the first floor would be burned like this,” Mak, 78, said ahead of returning to his former home. Last year’s blaze in the suburban district of Tai Po spread rapidly across seven of eight buildings in an apartment complex, killing 168 people. Starting Monday, thousands of displaced fire victims are returning to see what remains of their homes and retrieve their belongings. The process is expected to continue into early May.