Hong Kong’s Buildings Department has filed 259 charges against two companies and four individuals over major renovation works at the inferno-ravaged Wang Fuk Court, after investigations found non-fire-retardant materials were used and safety obligations were not met. The department said on Wednesday that the charges included allegedly permitting or authorising the use of substandard materials…
As the deadline approaches for homeowners to accept the Hong Kong government’s deal to buy back their flats at fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court, some who refuse to sell have said the offer cannot make up for the loss of their property and communal bonds. With the clock ticking to the August 31 cut-off date, the…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. As a judge-led panel continues its public inquiry into Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, experts are set to give evidence on factors that contributed to the rapid spread of the blaze. Richard Yuen…
Hong Kong’s police and anti-corruption agency have charged seven individuals and two companies with 25 offences, including manslaughter, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, attempting to pervert the course of public justice, and tax evasion in connection with the city’s most deadly blaze in recent history. The defendants appeared at West Kowloon Court on Wednesday to…
Residents of Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court are wrestling with a fresh sense of loss after returning to their former homes damaged in last November’s fire, as they are forced to choose what to pack and what to leave behind within a limited time frame and under practical constraints. Cecilia* is one such Hongkonger. She…
Hong Kong authorities have pledged to intervene in landlord-tenant disputes preventing residents from retrieving belongings from the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court, as packing efforts enter their 10th day. Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing said on Wednesday that while the government expected agreement on limited entry quotas, authorities were prepared to make “alternative arrangements” to…
To Ian Chu, capturing one last image of the sea view from his home before it disappears was a final wish as he returned on Saturday to the scene of the deadly Hong Kong blaze to collect his belongings. Chu lived in Wang Cheong House, one of eight residential blocks at Wang Fuk Court in…
Hon Wing, 77, and his family climbed 19 floors to their fire-ravaged flat in Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court housing estate on Tuesday but left almost empty-handed after a two-hour search for valuables. Hon, a retired part-time taxi driver, had hoped to find a bag of change he kept during his work shifts, but “nothing…
Playing one last song on a piano that cannot be retrieved from a fire-ravaged home is among the wishes of residents returning to the scene of the deadly Tai Po blaze, with one man climbing stairs on a fractured leg to try and recover a water boiler linked to his childhood memories. Some of those…
About 600 families from Hong Kong’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court have requested a second visit to their flats, authorities have said, as residents of the most severely damaged tower return to salvage their belongings. While some survivors on Thursday morning recalled harrowing escapes from the worst-hit block and retrieved large items such as a television…