AFP, Hong Kong

The morning after saving her elderly neighbour from Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, retiree Kwok was trawling through social media groups looking for signs other missing residents were safe yesterday.

The day before, as roaring flames edged closer, the 69-year-old had run through her apartment block looking for her neighbour, who she knew lived alone and used a wheelchair.

She got her outside before the inferno engulfed their residential estate, killing at least 44 people and leaving hundreds missing.

Yesterday, Kwok and others in her community were mobilising to track down the hundreds authorities said were still missing, creating WhatsApp groups and an app to try to locate those unaccounted for.

“I saw (the flames) draw closer, it was burning red and my heart was burning too,” said Kwok, describing how she had rushed through the building knocking on doors to warn people. She said she had not heard a fire alarm at any point during the ordeal.

As the sun rose over the smouldering towers of Wang Fuk Court yesterday, displaced residents had already spontaneously begun organising themselves to deal with the aftermath.

Hundreds in the neighbourhood sprang into action overnight, forming a decentralised but energetic community of helpers. “There are at least three (people) we can’t reach, we are very worried for them, and I’m going to the community centre later to continue searching,” Kwok said.

After what many said had been a sleepless night, crowds gathered on parks and walkways in the northern district of Tai Po to bear witness to the still-flickering remains of the estate.