For many Hong Kong families, they are the women who cook their meals, bathe their elderly parents and care for infants at home — often unseen, they are indispensable. More than 200 foreign domestic workers, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, were living in the Wang Fuk Court housing complex, the site of the deadliest fire in the city for decades that broke out last week.

在香港众多家庭中，她们是准备三餐、为年迈父母沐浴、看护幼儿的女性——虽常隐于幕后，却是不可或缺的存在。上周，香港数十年最严重的火灾在大埔宏福苑爆发，这处屋邨内居住着200多名外籍家庭佣工，其中绝大多数来自菲律宾和印度尼西亚。

In one 16th-story apartment, Cucu Susilawati, a worker from Indonesia, ran down the stairs with nothing but the clothes she was wearing. Elsewhere in the complex, Carren Dadap, a Filipina worker, rushed out the door with the 5-year-old boy in her care. In another home, Rhodora Alcaraz, who had just arrived in Hong Kong a day earlier from the Philippines, clutched a three-month-old baby as smoke filled the room around them.

在16楼的一间公寓里，印尼佣工古古·苏西拉瓦蒂仅穿着身上的衣服，从楼梯狂奔逃生；屋邨另一处，菲律宾佣工卡伦·达达普抱起她照料的五岁男童，仓促冲出家门；还有一户人家中，前一天刚从菲律宾抵达香港的罗多拉·阿尔卡拉兹在浓烟弥漫的房间里紧紧护住怀中三个月大的婴儿。

Their stories reveal how foreign domestic workers, who help form the backbone of the city’s economy, also bore a significant share of the danger. There are almost 370,000 such workers in Hong Kong, the vast majority of whom are women, and they do the housework and provide child care for millions of residents.

她们的经历揭露了一个事实：作为支撑香港经济运转重要力量的外籍家庭佣工在这场灾难中同样承受了巨大风险。目前香港约有37万名外籍家庭佣工，几乎全为女性，她们为数百万居民承担家务和育儿工作。

Government rules mandate that they live with their employers, forcing many women to occupy cramped spaces in already crowded high-rise apartments. Workers who lose their jobs must find a new employer within two weeks or return to their home countries. Many of those affected by the fire are worried about losing their jobs, as their employers, who have lost their homes, may not be able to afford their wages, said Sring Sringatin, secretary of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union.

香港政府规定她们必须与雇主同住，这使得许多女性只能挤在本就拥挤的高层公寓的狭小空间里。印尼移工工会秘书斯林·斯林加廷表示，此次受灾的佣工中不少人担心失业，因为她们失去住所的雇主可能无力支付工资。

Last Wednesday, fires swept through seven high-rise apartment towers in a residential complex in the northern district of Tai Po. As of Sunday, the authorities said at least 146 people have died, 40 were reported missing, and thousands have been displaced.

上周三，大火席卷了大埔区北部这处屋邨的七栋高层公寓楼。截至周日，官方通报称火灾已造成至少146人遇难、40人失踪，数千人无家可归。

周四，大埔一处收容所发生火灾，导致年长居民无家可归。

At least 230 foreign domestic workers — 140 from Indonesia and 90 from the Philippines — were living and working in Wang Fuk Court, according to estimates provided by the two consulates.

据菲印两国领事馆统计，宏福苑内共有约230名外籍家庭佣工居住和工作，其中印尼籍140人、菲律宾籍90人。

As of Saturday evening, seven Indonesian domestic workers were confirmed dead, two were hospitalized and 45 were still unaccounted for, according to the Indonesian Consulate in Hong Kong. At least one domestic worker from the Philippines had died and seven people were unaccounted for, according to the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong.

截至周六晚间，印尼驻港领事馆确认七名印尼籍佣工遇难、二人住院治疗，另有45人下落不明；菲律宾驻港总领事馆则表示，至少一名菲律宾籍佣工遇难，七人失联。

On a typical Sunday, thousands of these workers spill into public parks and pedestrian bridges to relax on their only day off. This week, the mood was markedly somber as many dressed in black to honor the victims. A popular Filipino influencer urged workers to observe a day of silence, and to refrain from dancing or singing in parks. At the Indonesian Consulate, the flag was lowered to half-staff.

往常每个周日，数以千计的外籍家庭佣工会涌向公园和人行天桥，享受一周仅有的休息日。但本周，这里的氛围格外沉重——许多人身着黑衣悼念遇难者。一位知名菲律宾网红呼吁同行默哀一日，不在公园内跳舞、唱歌；印尼驻港领事馆也降半旗致哀。

“I feel really sad,” said Dwi Astuti, who lives and works in Tai Po, a few minutes away from the site of the fire. “We are all here doing the same thing: earning a living for our families back home.”

“我心里特别难过，”在大埔工作生活、距火灾现场仅几分钟路程的德维·阿斯图蒂说。“我们所有人来这里都是为了同一个目的：挣钱养活家乡的家人。”

In the afternoon, more than 1,000 Indonesian women gathered on the lawn at Victoria Park, on Hong Kong Island, to honor the victims. Some held up their hands in prayer. Others bowed their heads and wiped tears from their eyes.

当天下午，1000多名印尼女性聚集在香港岛维多利亚公园的草坪上悼念遇难者。有人握住双手祈祷，有人低头拭泪。

“I’m getting emotional now. It’s too heavy for me,” said Sringatin, one of the organizers of the event, who goes by a single name as is common among Indonesians. “Domestic workers come here not just for themselves. They are also thinking about their family back home. They are the backbone of their families. They are mothers.”

“我现在情绪很难平复，这件事实在太沉重了，”活动组织者之一斯林加廷说。“外籍佣工来香港打工，不只是为了自己，心里更牵挂着家乡的家人。她们是家里的支柱，她们是母亲。”

周五，救援人员在大埔宏福苑公寓大厦现场。

‘Help us, we’re burning’

“救救我们，我们快被烧死了”

Rhodora Alcaraz was inside her employer’s apartment on the 13th floor when the fire broke out. She had been in Hong Kong only for a day, after arriving from the Philippines to start her new job as a nanny and housekeeper, said her sister, Jacqueline Tuñacao.

火灾发生时，罗多拉·阿尔卡拉兹正在雇主位于13楼的公寓内。她的姐妹杰奎琳·图尼亚索说，阿尔卡拉兹刚从菲律宾来到香港，即将开始保姆和管家的新工作。

Just after 3 p.m., Ms. Alcaraz sent an audio message to her family in the Philippines. She sounded calm. “Our building is burning,” she said. “We’ve gotten stuck in the room. The smoke is coming in and I’m holding the baby.”

下午三点刚过，阿尔卡拉兹给菲律宾的家人发送了一条语音消息，语气似乎还很平静：“我们住的楼着火了，我们被困在房间里，烟已经漫进来，我正抱着孩子。”

A few minutes later, she sent another message. This time, she was in tears. “Help us, we’re burning,” she said, according to her sister.

几分钟后，她又发来一条消息，这次已泣不成声。图尼亚索回忆，她在消息里哭喊：“救救我们，我们快被烧死了。”

“I told her to be strong, to find a way out,” said Ms. Tuñacao. “She said she couldn’t leave the baby, and I didn’t know how to help her when she was so far away.”

“我让她坚强点，想办法逃出去，”图尼亚索说。“她说她不能丢下孩子，而我距离遥远，根本不知道该怎么帮她。”

Minutes later, her family members received a message with just the sounds of the baby wailing in the background.

几分钟后，家人收到了一条消息，背景音里只有婴儿不停的哭声。

Ms. Alcaraz remained trapped until the evening when she, the baby and the baby’s mother were rescued by firefighters, Ms. Tuñacao said. She did not suffer any burns but was sent to the intensive care unit of a hospital where she was put on a ventilator. As of Saturday, she was in critical condition but responding to treatment, according to a statement posted on social media by the Filipino government unit that manages overseas workers.

图尼亚索称，阿尔卡拉兹一直被困到傍晚，最终，她和婴儿以及婴儿的母亲一起被消防员救出。她虽未被烧伤，但被送往医院重症监护室，依靠呼吸机维持呼吸。菲律宾海外劳工管理部门在社交媒体发文称，截至周六，她病情危急，但对治疗已有反应。

Carren Dadap, another domestic helper from the Philippines, was caring for a 5-year-old boy at home when one of his parents called to say that the building next door was on fire. No fire alarm had sounded. But soon, the smell of smoke filled the hallway and crept into the apartment. “I didn’t even think about taking my belongings or my passport or my money, as long as my charge and I could get out,” Ms. Dadap said in a video posted on social media by her employment agency.

另一位菲律宾籍佣工卡伦·达达普当时正在家中照看五岁男童，孩子的父母突然来电告知隔壁楼栋着火。当时火警并未响起，但很快，浓烟就弥漫到走廊，钻进公寓。“我什么都没想，没拿行李、没拿护照，也没拿现金，只想着赶紧带着孩子逃出去，”达达普在其雇佣机构发布的社交媒体视频中说。

周五，志愿者们在大埔整理捐赠的衣物和食物。

Debris fell on them as she told the child to run down the stairs. “We need to go down or else both of us will die,” she said. When they emerged from the building, Ms. Dadap said she saw firefighters swarming the complex trying to extinguish the fire next door. But the flames were spreading quickly and had reached their building.

她让孩子跟着自己往楼下跑，途中不断有碎片砸向他们。“我们必须赶紧下楼，不然两人都会死，”她说。逃出大楼后，她看到消防员正全力扑救隔壁楼栋的大火，但火势蔓延极快，很快就烧到了她们住的楼。

Cucu Susilawati, 43, a domestic worker from Indonesia, did not hear an alarm either. She was eating lunch inside her apartment on the 16th floor when she heard a loud bang and the sounds of fire trucks. She peered out of the bathroom window and saw a fire blazing below. “I left right away. I didn’t bring anything, just the clothes I was wearing,” she said in an interview in Mandarin.

43岁的印尼籍家政工古古·苏西拉瓦蒂也没听到火警警报。当时她正在16楼的公寓里吃午饭，突然听到一声巨响，紧接着传来消防车的鸣笛声。她从浴室窗户往外一看，发现楼下已是一片火海。“我立刻就跑了，什么都没带，就穿着身上的衣服，”她用普通话接受采访时说。

Ms. Susilawati escaped. But two of her neighbors — fellow caregivers looking after elderly women at Wang Fuk Court — died in the fire. They saw each other almost daily, she said, while grocery shopping or at a local park.

苏西拉瓦蒂成功逃生，但她的两位邻居——同样在宏福苑照料老人的外籍佣工却在火灾中丧生。她说，她们平时买菜或在附近公园散步时几乎每天碰面。

Ms. Susilawati is facing pressure to find a new job quickly. The woman she was caring for has moved to a nursing home, where she will remain full-time. Her employers have told her that her services are no longer needed.

如今苏西拉瓦蒂正面临尽快找新工作的压力。她之前照料的老人已搬入养老院长期居住，雇主告知不再需要她的服务。

Sringatin urged the Hong Kong government to make special arrangements to ensure that foreign domestic workers affected by the fire can remain in the city while they look for work. The Hong Kong government did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

斯林加廷呼吁香港政府出台特殊政策，允许受灾的外籍家庭佣工在港停留期间寻找新工作。截至发稿，香港政府尚未对此事作出回应。

“I don’t want to leave my job but there’s no way I can stay,” Ms. Susilawati said.

“我不想失去这份工作，但我确实没办法再留下来了，”苏西拉瓦蒂说。