Hong Kong — Yip Ka-kui told CBS News he was about to take a nap when his wife called him from the other room to tell him there was a fire in the building next door, where their son lived.
“I was so nervous. I immediately grabbed my clothes, my phone and went downstairs,” he said.
He never imagined that the fire at the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in Hong Kong spreads so quickly. He tore down the bamboo scaffolding, the netting that covered it, and then the foam window coverings that adorned the sprawling complex’s eight buildings for the ongoing renovation work.
“I came out and saw a big fire,” he told CBS News on Monday, as the official death toll from the fire climbed to over 150. “The fire was spreading everywhere and I could hear the bamboo exploding. The fire spread to the other block. The fence caught fire.”
That other block was his own apartment building, where he knew his wife was always upstairs. He watched as the fire spread to the sides, quickly blocking the main hall.
“I immediately called my wife and told her there was a big fire and we had to go now,” the 67-year-old recalled through tears. “I told my wife, don’t come down.”
He hoped firefighters would be able to bring the fire under control before it was too late.
On the other end of the line, his distraught wife, Bai Shui Lin, told him she couldn’t move through the thick smoke.
Family photo
“Then there was so much noise,” he said. “I don’t hear her anymore… only noise. And then I can’t contact her anymore. That’s the last call I had with her.”
“I kept waiting, hoping the fire would be put out. I thought maybe only the exterior would be hit. But the fire only spread,” he said.
As the fire spread to seven of the complex’s buildings, Yip watched behind a police cordon for any signs of his wife’s execution, but he never saw her.
He said he reviewed lists of victims’ photos and names for days as the death toll mounted, giving her description to nearby hospitals in hopes she had been rescued.
“I couldn’t find my wife,” he said through tears. “I tried everything.”
CBS News 
Five days later, police confirmed their worst fears in a phone call Monday. Bai, his wife of 40 years, has never left their building.
The couple’s two sons had to confirm her identity, but her remains were burned so badly that authorities used an ID card found in her purse to verify it was her.
Yip said she went door to door, warning neighbors about the fire that had spread to their apartment building and saying she helped at least three other families escape before it was too late.
Their two sons survived the disastrous fire, but Yip said he felt guilty over the loss of his wife.
“If I had asked her to leave a minute earlier, I think she would have survived,” he said. “But we know her. She wouldn’t have left without telling the others.”
Anthony Kwan/Getty Images 
Hong Kong authorities said Monday that at least 30 people were still missing and that rescue teams were continuing to sweep the seven charred buildings for victims who failed to escape.
At least 14 people have been arrested for manslaughter, as details of apparent safety violations involving the materials outside the building continue to emerge. The authorities do not rule out further arrests.
