Hong Kong is calling for prayer and mourning after a devastating fire at an apartment complex left at least 146 people dead and about 100 still missing. Source: UCA News.
As a sign of solidarity, the diocese turned its website black and white and shared a prayer for residents affected by the November 26 blaze, urging the faithful to remember that “we are one family”.
“We pray for one another, for we are one family with our brothers and sisters,” the diocese said on Friday.
The diocese encouraged people to pray for those “who are suffering from the fire.”
“We earnestly ask for Your mercy and compassion on all the deceased, granting them rest,” the diocese asked God in a prayer proposed to all parishes.
“We ask You to heal all the injured, so that they may find comfort in their suffering” and “to comfort all the victims, so that they may recover from their grief and rise again.
“We are so weak and powerless in the face of disaster,” asking the Lord to “personally soothe our wounded hearts, wipe away our tears, and stay with us in the darkness as we await your rescue.”
The fire broke at about 3pm local time on Wednesday at the Wang Fuk apartment complex, home to about 4600 people. The firefighters finally brought the blaze under control 42 hours after it ignited.
Experts told the BBC that bamboo scaffolding, along with other construction materials found at the buildings – which were undergoing renovation – might have contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.
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Hong Kong diocese mourns victims of apartment complex fire (UCA News)
