Sobs could be heard across Hong Kong’s Victoria Park at the weekend as hundreds of migrant workers mourned victims of Hong Kong’s worst fire in more than a century and prayed for missing friends.
Many found themselves in limbo after the disaster.
At least 10 of the 146 people killed in the fire that devastated the high-rise towers of Wang Fuk Court were migrant workers, an often overlooked segment of the workforce.
Dozens more are unaccounted for, according to an AFP tally based on information from consulates.
Hong Kong is home to nearly 370,000 migrant domestic workers, predominantly women from the Philippines and Indonesia caring for infants and the elderly in a city with an ageing population.
Migrant workers typically have Sundays off and prayers were held in neighbourhoods across the city. Attendees spoke about friends who had gone missing and how support efforts for survivors at times fell short.
Sudarsih, an Indonesian woman who has worked in Hong Kong for 15 years, said two of her friends were still missing.
“God willing, they will be found quickly and are safe,” she said.
Those at the Victoria Park event sang hymns and prayed near a banner on the ground that read: “Dearly departed ones: highest respect and recognition to the loyalty and bravery of migrant domestic workers.”
Dwi Sayekti, 38, said she hoped the disaster would be the “first and last”.
“I hope in the future, it doesn’t happen again. And all of those who lost their lives in Tai Po can be found,” she said in a broken voice.
Across town, in Hong Kong’s central business district, around 100 Filipino workers held a prayer meeting at their usual Sunday gathering spot with glittering office buildings looming overhead.
“We are praying that hopefully there will be no more casualties in this fire tragedy,” said Dolores Balladares, chairwoman of United Filipinos in Hong Kong.
Many of the well-wishes were directed towards Rhodora Alcaraz, a young woman from the Philippines who started working in Hong Kong just a few days before the tragedy.
In an unverified but widely circulated account of events, Alcaraz shielded her employer’s three-month-old infant with her body when the fire broke out.
When firefighters found them in the smoke-filled apartment, she was still cradling the baby.
Alcaraz was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit, though AFP was unable to confirm her latest condition.
Fellow migrant worker Michelle Magcale said she felt “so sad” and “speechless” upon hearing the news.
“I can’t express how sad it is,” the 49-year-old said.
“On behalf of her duty, on behalf of her responsibility, she saved one more life... we are thankful for that,” she added. — AFP
