More than 1,700 households affected by Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades have received an emergency cash handout of HK$10,000 (US$1,284), an official has confirmed, as the city works to ease mortgage burdens on impacted homeowners. Authorities earlier announced a series of relief funds for residents affected by last Wednesday’s massive Wang Fuk Court inferno,…
More than 1,700 households affected by Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades have received an emergency cash handout of HK$10,000 (US$1,284), an official has confirmed, as the city works to ease mortgage burdens on impacted homeowners. Authorities earlier announced a series of relief funds for residents affected by last Wednesday’s massive Wang Fuk Court inferno,…
Hong Kong is going through one of its most difficult times in recent history. From what we have seen of the communities coming together for Tai Po, where the worst fire in decades ripped through a residential block leaving devastation that is almost unimaginable, there is hope that we will come out of this stronger….
For 17 odd years as a pastor, Reverend Jenny Lam Yat-kwan witnessed life and death and helped those in despair, but after losing three members of her family in the devastating Tai Po fire in Hong Kong, she needed all the courage and strength she could draw from God. Lam, the pastor of ELCHK Diamond…
Thousands of mourners poured into Tai Po on Sunday, forming a solemn river of remembrance for the 146 lives lost in Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in more than seven decades, while Beijing called for unity and healing as a massive rescue and recovery operation continued amid the charred ruins. The scale of the calamity was…
By noon on Sunday, four days after the fire began, the government’s support fund had grown to HK$1.2 billion (US$153 million), with HK$900 million in public donations and HK$300 million in government grants. The total does not include donations to non-governmental organisations such as the Hong Kong Red Cross. About HK$1 billion was raised in…
Hong Kong’s “top priority” is to resettle residents displaced by the Tai Po fire so they can get through the winter, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has said, as the city’s major monetary and banking authorities roll out measures to ease their immediate financial burdens. On Sunday, Chan highlighted the banking industry’s emergency support measures…
Beijing’s state media has praised the swift rescue and relief efforts by the Hong Kong government after the city’s worst fire in decades, commending its leadership and pledging support in its first editorial commentary on the disaster. The commentary by Xinhua, which typically reflects the stance of the central government, published on Sunday focused on…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. What we know so far: 128 people, including a firefighter, confirmed dead 79 injured, including 12 firefighters Status of 150 people unclear The…
The eight milk tea-coloured towers of Wang Fuk Court were special sentinels to many locals in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district. Residents say that whenever they saw the blocks emerging into view on the northern-bound left side of Tolo Highway on their daily commute after work, they knew they were back home. Home was their…