The Government today began to provide tokens of solidarity of $200,000 and funeral grants of $50,000 to the families of the deceased from the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, with the first batch involving 18 cases, and is concurrently providing a $50,000 living allowance to each of the 20 cases in the first batch.

In addition to the tokens of solidarity, funeral grants, living allowances, and the previously disbursed emergency cash subsidy of $10,000, the Government will provide four categories of special subsidies as follows.

An injury grant will be provided to all the injured from the fire, since they may lose part of their income during hospitalisation and have immediate living needs after discharge.

Calculated from the date of admission, $100,000 will be granted to those who stay in hospital for seven days or more, and $50,000 to those who stay in hospital for six days or less. It will be disbursed via the Social Welfare Department's "one social worker per household" mechanism.

Secondly, a special subsidy of $20,000 will be granted to students living at Wang Fuk Court to repurchase textbooks, stationery, computers and other learning tools or for transportation expenses between temporary accommodations and schools.

The subsidy covers those studying in day schools, including secondary and primary schools, special schools and kindergartens, as well as those studying full-time in locally accredited courses at post-secondary institutions. It will be distributed through the day schools.

Thirdly, a $20,000 subsidy will be offered to construction workers, cleaning workers, and security guards working at Wang Fuk Court to cover their loss of income due to employment stoppage or their need to repurchase business equipment. The subsidy will be followed up by the Labour Department.

Finally, a $20,000 subsidy will be provided to foreign domestic helpers employed at Wang Fuk Court, to be followed up by the Labour Department. They may not have support from family or relatives in Hong Kong, and their personal belongings may have been completely destroyed by the blaze or their employers tragically passed away.

For the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po established by the Government, the donations received have reached $1.3 billion.

In addition to the start-up capital of $300 million from the Government, the fund's total has reached around $1.6 billion. It will be used to assist the residents in rebuilding their homes and providing long-term and sustained support.