Philippines celebrates ‘heroic’ helper who survived Hong Kong fire

December 2, 2025 – 8:00 AM

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A Filipino domestic helper has been hailed as a hero after emerging from a deadly Hong Kong tower fire with her employer’s three-month-old baby and elderly mother.

Just a day after arriving in the city, Rhodora Alcaraz, 28, found herself trapped and alone with her new employer’s loved ones in the

family’s

smoke-filled

Wang Fuk Court apartment

Alcaraz’s

story has for some highlighted the enduring role of the city’s hundreds of thousands of domestic helpers who cook, clean and care for the young and elderly, often living in cramped spaces and earning modest wages in one

cities

Former employer prayed for miracle

Panicked audio messages Alcaraz sent to her sister during Wednesday’s blaze

– that killed at least 151 people –

“I’m feeling very weak. I can’t

breathe

,” she said in one of the clips, sobbing and struggling to speak.

Rhoda Lynn Dayo, Alcaraz’s former employer, was among those trying to reach people in Hong Kong to help establish her whereabouts, she said.

“I truly expected that she wouldn’t be found anymore. So I prayed: Please God … Perform a miracle, Lord,” she said.

Alcaraz,

known

by the nickname Jackie, had cared for Dayo’s children from the age of 17 for more than four years back in the Philippines.

She was so trusted by the family that Dayo said she was comfortable leaving her children with Alcaraz even when she had to travel to the

“The way she cared for the kids was different – there was real love … I don’t doubt that she would put her life on the line for the child she was caring for,” Dayo said.

Nine Indonesian domestic workers and one Filipino are confirmed

among the dead

Wang Fuk Court

, the city’s deadliest fire in more than 75 years.

More than 40 people remain missing

There are around 368,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, according to the latest figures, accounting for nearly a tenth of the workforce. The majority come from the Philippines and Indonesia, and in recent years there have been increasing numbers from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.

She worked for two years in Qatar, before taking up the job in Hong Kong.

“We are poor. Our father is just a fisherman, that is why she decided to work abroad to help the family,” Alcaraz’s younger sister, Raychell Loreto, told Reuters.

“We are so proud of our sister,” she added.

—Reporting by Mikhail Flores, Adrian Portugal and Karen Lema in Manila and Laurie Chen in Hong Kong; Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Kate Mayberry