A spontaneous website was set up as soon as a serious fire spread to 7 buildings in Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po District, Hong Kong (China) on November 26, to update the situation of apartments in real time.
This page displays a spreadshead, listing almost all apartments in high-rise buildings in the Wang Fuk Court area - where dozens of people have died and hundreds are still missing after the terrible fire.
The cars were marked in blue showing that residents had been rescued, while the red showed residents inside who were signaling for emergency care, not responding or had died.
The updates appear on the page based on data sent by residents, neighbors and relatives through free Google Forms forms, coordinated by the administrative group.
By the morning of November 27 (local time), more than 100 apartments, mainly in buildings E and F, had turned red. The cells also show the status of residents: Many sections only have short instructions, while others have more detailed information about the missing people. According to updated data, most of the missing people are elderly residents.
Some notes made many people feel heartbroken: A 41-year-old man went missing at 4:45 p.m.; Three elderly people, one with mental decline and one with back problems, have been missing for 9 hours; Ms. Yang has been out of contact since the afternoon.
The situation was even more heartbreaking at Tower B: A 90-year-old woman on the 4th floor stopped responding, while a young child was believed to be stuck on the 18th floor. On the top floor, 9 cats and 1 dog were also trapped in another apartment.
Among the thousands of people watching the fire, Mr. Raymond Cheung - a former firefighter in Hong Kong - said that witnessing the increasingly thick red sea of oases brought a sense of pain, making his chest heavily heavy.
With many years of experience in dealing with major fires, he can imagine the conditions inside the buildings - the temperature, smoke and the dangers that his former colleagues are facing. He also understands what families waiting for news outside have to go through. It is difficult to accept these numbers, said Mr. Cheung.
We know that there may be better news ahead. But I hope that all those waiting to be rescued and those doing the rescue work can feel some of the strength and encouragement, he added.
Not only firefighters, he also praised the creativity and enthusiasm of local people in supporting rescue work: "People take advantage of any skills they have. Like the IT experts this time, it also contributes to helping to find residents who are out of contact".
As of the afternoon of November 27, the fire at Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in Hong Kong (China) the day before had increased the number of deaths to 55, while more than 200 people had not been found.
