Nearly all residents of the seven towers damaged in a deadly fire at Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court returned over a 15-day period to collect their belongings, the government said [1].
The return programme began on April 20 and ended on Monday, May 4, involving 6,265 people from 1,674 households, according to official figures [1]. About 50 households decided not to return to their units. Each household was given three hours to collect their possessions [1]. Warner Cheuk Wing-hing said, "The vast majority of the residents returned to their units within the 15-day period, while fewer than 10 households required other arrangements" [1].
The blaze on November 26 of last year engulfed seven of the estate’s eight blocks, killing 168 people and displacing nearly 5,000 others [1]. Of the 1,736 flats across the seven affected blocks, 924 sustained various levels of damage [1].
Police have received 118 reports of suspected thefts connected to the fire-hit towers and are investigating at least 16 of these cases [1].
The fire marked one of Hong Kong’s deadliest in recent history. The completion of the return programme allows authorities to continue assessing the damage and planning further recovery steps [1].
