Public invited to funeral for second Hong Kong firefighter to die in Ngau Tau Kok blaze
The public will be invited to join in the mourning for firefighter Samuel Hui Chi-kit next month
A funeral with full honours for the second Hong Kong firefighters who lost his life in Ngau Tau Kok blaze is scheduled next month and open to the public, the Post has learned.
A source close to the matter said the government had consulted the wife of Samuel Hui Chi-kit, the senior fireman killed in the inferno on Thursday night, and decided to hold an official funeral service on July 22.
Funeral with full honours set for Hong Kong fireman who died in Ngau Tau Kok blaze
“A vigil will be held on the night of July 21 at Universal Funeral Parlour in Hung Hom, followed by a funeral with full honours the next morning,” the source said.
The 37-year-old hero was promoted just last month. Hui left behind a wife and a seven-year-old son.
Before leaving his Kwun Tong station to go to the blaze on Thursday, Hui posted a picture of his fire engine and wrote: “It’s finally my turn to go there! Let me conquer it with my team and see how ferocious you are. Don’t worry, I will bring all my brothers back to the station safely.”
It was understood the Director of Fire Services David Lai Man-hin would lay wreaths during the mourning ceremony.
A hearse is to proceed from the parlour to Amoycan Industrial Centre in Ngau Tau Kok, where the blaze took place, to allow the public to pay their final tributes.
Second firefighter dies in Ngau Tau Kok blaze as precautionary evacuation measures put in place
Before the cortege ends at Gallant Garden at Wo Hop Shek Cemetery near Fanling in the New Territories for a burial service, it is to pass through the Kwun Tong Fire Station where Hui last served.
Hui joined the fire services department in April 1998. He was the second firefighter to die in the blaze, following senior station officer Thomas Cheung, 30, who died on Tuesday after he was found unconscious inside the building.
A customary mourning ceremony for Cheung is to be held at the same parlour on July 17.
