The Government has announced that the living allowance for each household affected by the Wang Fuk Court fire, channelled via the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, will be increased from $50,000 to $100,000. At least 674 households will benefit.

The Government will also provide a $200,000 token of solidarity to the families of each deceased victim, as well as $50,000 to cover funeral costs. As of today, 67 cases have been processed.

Separately, the Government has so far emergency subsidy payments of $10,000 to 1,929 households.

Social workers from the Social Welfare Department have been in contact with more than 1,700 affected households to help them register for the “one social worker per household” service. Departmental staff also paid a visit to affected residents staying in transitional housing units in Yuen Long today, and distributed Octopus cards with a face value of $2,000.

The Monetary Authority and the Hong Kong Association of Banks today met again with 28 retail banks, including digital banks, and introduced additional measures to continue assisting those affected by the blaze.

The Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, set up to assist residents in rebuilding their homes and to offer them long-term support, amounted to $2.8 billion as of noon today. Of that sum, $2.5 billion comes from donations, whilst $300 million is the Government’s start-up capital.

Accommodation support

As of this morning, 1,241 residents had been accommodated, via the co-ordination of the Home & Youth Affairs Bureau, in youth hostels, camps, or hotel rooms. Another 2,235 residents have moved into transitional housing units provided by the Housing Bureau or units from the Housing Society.

Meanwhile, the Transport Department has been steering public transport operators to strengthen the provision of franchised bus, green minibus and residents’ bus services by deploying additional vehicles and manpower to support residents staying in transitional housing in various districts.

Relief supplies

An online platform for the donation of supplies, established by the Government and the information technology sector, has received over 1,300 registrations for donations including food and beverage items, clothing, daily necessities, bedding, and electrical appliances.

Handling of reported missing persons

Police have completed searches inside all seven buildings which caught fire.

Following searches conducted by around 300 officers from the Disaster Victim Identification Unit, areas around the buildings and near the collapsed scaffolding were confirmed to be safe. No human remains were found, and the number of the deceased remains at 159. The officers also handed over suspected human remains found earlier to forensic pathologists for further testing.

Investigations

The Inter-departmental Fire Investigation Task Force, led by the Fire Services Department and also involving the Electrical & Mechanical Services Department, inspected the gas pipeline on the exterior wall where the fire started and found no damage to the pipeline.

Regulation, inspection work

The Housing Bureau began sending emergency maintenance contractors to help Police clear away miscellaneous items in the surroundings of the buildings. Support works have also commenced in a small number of units which may be subject to further damage.

The Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit visited Fung Wah Estate in Chai Wan (under the Tenants Purchase Scheme), as well as four Home Ownership Scheme courts, namely Sui Wo Court in Sha Tin, Ching Lai Court in Sham Shui Po, Yee Kok Court in Sham Shui Po, and On Kay Court in Kwun Tong, to oversee the progress of work to remove protective nets by registered contractors. The Housing Department also completed the removal of protective nets in 15 public housing estates today.

As of 4pm, the Labour Department had inspected 239 construction sites, issued 130 written warnings and 61 improvement notices, and taken out 17 prosecutions.