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…
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…
The last batch of residents who briefly returned to their flats in Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court under a special government arrangement said prayers and left flower bouquets as a final farewell to their fire-ravaged homes. The residents, who were among 79 households that registered to visit Wang Sun House on Wednesday morning, arrived at…
Residents have continued searching for memorabilia in their fire-ravaged homes on the second day of pick-up sessions at Wang Fuk Court, with some seeking help from a robotic device and others expressing gratitude to neighbours who saved their lives during the blaze. Wang Sun House residents on the middle floors began returning home on Tuesday,…
About 270 residents of Hong Kong’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court are returning to their flats on Monday to pack their belongings, nearly five months after the deadly blaze, with authorities deploying more than 1,000 staff to assist them. Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing said 269 residents from 78 households in Wang Sun House would…
For 66-year-old Ming Lee, the only way to get back to his flat in Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court is by walking up 25 flights of stairs, after the deadly inferno at the housing estate last November destroyed seven of its eight buildings, including their lift systems. Undaunted by the physical toll required, the retiree…
Displaced residents from the seven fire-ravaged blocks of Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court will be allowed to return to their flats for up to three hours to collect their personal belongings, with the first batch to be allowed back on April 20. Authorities said on Friday that each household could register up to four people…
Around a dozen families who lost their loved ones in Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire have given their DNA samples to authorities, hoping to help identify victims still missing more than a week after the deadly blaze. Residents from Wang Fuk Court who visited the Kwong Fuk Community Hall near the estate on Monday morning…
Hong Kong mother Moon Li was just HK$65,000 (US$8,350) away from paying off the mortgage on the flat she and her husband bought 17 years ago, but a deadly blaze at their Tai Po estate may have shattered her dream of owning a home. “I used to have a cosy home,” the 40-year-old clinic assistant…
More than a week after an inferno ravaged Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong’s Tai Po, one mother is agonisingly waiting to learn whether her daughter is among the 159 victims. The woman, surnamed Ng, said on Saturday that she feared she had lost her daughter after two bodies were found in a rented flat…