ExclusiveHow deadly Nepalese diner blaze left Hongkongers grieving for friends and family following ‘chaos, smoke and screams’
- People tried to put out the flames themselves and delayed calling emergency services for minutes, while thick, black smoke filled room, mother of victim says
- Three-year-old birthday boy was among those dropped safely out of first-floor toilet window at the back of the restaurant to people below
A small shrine with a photo of 32-year-old Anita Niraula stands in the corner of a small subdivided flat in Yau Ma Tei. Fresh white flowers, candles and fruit have been carefully placed in front.
Candles, which were lit as part of Diwali celebrations, set alight a wall lined with soundproof material at the entrance of the unlicensed Nepalese kitchen-style diner known as “Jeere Khursani” – or “hot chillies” in Nepali – on the first floor of a tenement building on Canton Road, causing the deadly fire, according to Thapa and friends of the deceased.
Inside the restaurant were at least three separate groups of revellers, one celebrating a three-year-old boy’s birthday and two others Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
People initially tried to put out the flames themselves, and delayed calling the emergency services for minutes, while thick, black smoke filled the room, according to the Nepalese mother, who was told about the chaos by those who survived the fire.