Thirteen households from the Hong Kong estate devastated by the inferno in Tai Po remain uncontactable more than 10 days on from the blaze, with the city’s labour and welfare chief not ruling out that all may have died in the fire.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said the Wang Fuk Court blaze had prompted the government to consider expediting legal amendments to ban smoking at construction sites within around two months and to introduce a fixed penalty ticket system for the offence, instead of taking cases to court.
Sun revealed the grim figures on a television programme on Sunday, noting that while authorities had successfully contacted 1,971 of the estate’s 1,984 households, a small fraction was still unaccounted for.
Advertisement
When asked if it was possible that the 13 households were killed in the fire, Sun said the possibility was not ruled out.
“We really hope to use all means to find these 13 households,” he said.
Advertisement
Sun added that the government’s “one social worker per household” initiative had now reached 99 per cent of residents, providing tailored support to survivors.