A deadly No. 5 fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on November 26, resulting in over a hundred fatalities and thousands of people losing their homes. The three task forces set up by the Hong Kong government for the fire - the Task Force on Investigation and Regulation, the Task Force on Emergency Support and Fund-Raising, and the Task Force on Emergency Accommodation Arrangements - are making full efforts to follow up on the support, relief, and investigation work related to the incident.
The government announced the latest updates yesterday (Dec. 11):
For the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, established by the government, donations received are about HK$3.2 billion as of noon yesterday (Dec. 11). In addition to the start-up capital of HK$300 million from the government, the fund's total has now reached around HK$3.5 billion. The fund will be used to assist residents in rebuilding their homes and providing long-term and sustained support.
The government earlier announced that a living allowance from the Support Fund will be provided to each affected household, and the amount has been increased from HK$50,000 to HK$100,000. As of yesterday, 1,784 cases have been processed. In addition, the government will provide families of each deceased victim with a token of solidarity of HK$200,000, as well as HK$50,000 to cover funeral costs. As of yesterday, a total of 121 cases have been processed. The allowance will be disbursed in phases.
Social workers from the Social Welfare Department (SWD) have been in contact with more than 1,980 affected households, and more than 4,900 residents have been registered for the "one social worker per household" follow-up service. The SWD will maintain liaison with the affected households to provide all necessary assistance while fully supporting the relief work of the government.
The Advisory Committee on Mental Health also announced yesterday the launch of a one-year Compassionate Support Programme for Bereaved Families with the participation of a number of non-governmental organisations. Dovetailing with the "one social worker per household" service of the SWD, the programme provides free mental health support services, including grief and bereavement counselling for the bereaved, and refers them to clinical psychologists and/or psychiatrists for follow-up services as required based on mental health risk assessments, with a view to accompanying them through the pain of loss.
As of yesterday morning, a total of 1,457 residents have been accommodated, through the coordination of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, in youth hostels, camps, or hotel rooms. Another 2,796 residents are currently living in transitional housing units provided by the Housing Bureau or units from the Hong Kong Housing Society. The temporary shelter at Tung Cheong Street Community Hall has stopped admitting new users and will remain in operation until the existing users have relocated to arranged emergency accommodations.
The Labour Department (LD) continues to inspect fire protection facilities and the fire emergency preparedness of building maintenance work sites with large-scale scaffolding to ensure the occupational safety of workers. As of 4 pm yesterday, the LD has inspected 440 construction sites, issued a total of 226 written warnings and 105 improvement notices, and taken out 25 prosecutions.
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