The Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po announced today that a third round of seven evidential hearings, at witnesses will give oral evidence, will be held on the following days:

1. April 20 (Monday)
2. April 21 (Tuesday)
3. April 22 (Wednesday)
4. April 23 (Thursday)
5. April 24 (Friday)
6. April 27 (Monday)
7. April 30 (Thursday)

The hearings will be conducted in Cantonese from 10am to 1pm and from 2.15pm to 4.30pm at the Multi-purpose Hall, 3/F, City Gallery, 3 Edinburgh Place, Central. Simultaneous interpretation in Putonghua and English will be provided.

Those wishing to attend, including Wang Fuk Court residents, are required to pre-register online from 10am on April 8 to 10am on April 11.

Registrants may select one or more sessions. Seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis according to the system’s record of the time the pre-registration forms are received.

Successful registrants will receive a confirmation issued by the committee secretariat no later than April 16. They will get an SMS notification from the sender name “#IC-hearing”, or an email from hearing@ic-wangfukcourtfire.gov.hk.

The proceedings will be broadcast live in transmission areas set up on the ground floor of City Gallery as well as at the Hong Kong Central Library’s Lecture Theatre. Some registrants may be assigned to observe the hearings in these two areas. A total of about 360 seats will be available for public observation in the main venue and the two transmission areas. About half of the seats will be set aside for Wang Fuk Court residents on a priority basis.

Individuals can only pre-register for each hearing day once. Duplicate registrations will not be processed.

The committee plans to hold additional hearings in May, details of which will be announced later.