The residents of Wang Chi House in Wang Fuk Court have continued to return home to collect their belongings. Ms Leung, who lives in Wang Chi House, said she came back to take important documents and necessary supplies. She pointed out that the government has arranged for her to return after three or four weeks. Currently, all the units of Wang Chi House have water and electricity, and the elevators are operating normally. However, the floor is wet. Ms Leung also mentioned that apart from the door, there is no damage to her house for the time being.
The residents of Wang Chi House in Wang Fuk Court have continued to return home to collect their belongings. Photo by Bastille Post
Ms Leung, Photo by Bastille Post
The 73-year-old man, Mr Lam, has lived in Wang Shing House of Wang Fuk Court for over 40 years. In his eyes, the main cause of the fire disaster was the malfunction of the fire protection system, while the biggest problem was the management company's operations. Additionally, he hoped that the government could help to provide housing assistance to the affected residents, "At least I can have a place to settle down." said Mr Lam. He also hoped that he could be resettled to another place away from the area near Wang Fuk Court since returning here would bring psychological trauma to him. At present, He has stayed temporarily at the Royal Plaza Hotel in Mong Kok for about two weeks. After that, he will need to find volunteers or social workers to follow up on subsequent matters. "Although staying in Mong Kok is convenient, it cannot be a forever solution." he said.
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The residents of Wang Chi House in Wang Fuk Court have continued to return home to collect their belongings. Photo by Bastille Post
Ms Leung, Photo by Bastille Post
Mr Lam, Photo by Bastille Post
Emmanuel Serna, Photo by Bastille Post
Mr Lam, Photo by Bastille Post
Emmanuel Serna, a French journalist who has lived in Hong Kong for over a decade, said that it was very moving to see volunteers come to the site of the fire and reach out a helping hand to the affected residents. When he saw the fire disaster on TV, he had mixed feelings: "I think it's very sad. Many people are suffering. A lot of people died. They have lost everything, so it's very sad."
Emmanuel Serna, Photo by Bastille Post
A week has passed since the No.5 Alarm fire broke out in Tai Po. Among the eight buildings of Wang Fuk Court, only Wang Chi House has not been affected by the fire. From this Wednesday, the authorities have arranged for the residents of Wang Chi House to return to their homes to retrieve their belongings. Ms Wong, a resident of the building, has gone back home to retrieve her belongings and her children's supplies. She said that her family lived in several units in Wang Fuk Court separately. One of the twin sisters surnamed Yam who died in the fire, was her sister-in-law, which has made her family feel extremely heartbroken.
Ms Wong has gone back home to retrieve her belongings and her children's supplies. Photo by Bastille Post
Ms Wong describes herself as "born and raised in Tai Po" and has lived in the area for over 30 years. Her parents, younger brother, elder sister, and mother-in-law all live in Wang Fuk Court. The family owns a total of five properties, located in Wang Kin House and Wang Tai House. Currently, the two units in Wang Tai House have been severely burned down. During these days, her family members are temporarily staying in the homes of relatives and friends. All of their life and work have been significantly affected by the fire. As for the future, she and her family hope to continue living in Tai Po without planning to move away from the area. Considering this, she hoped her family could have enough luck to be arranged to stay in Tai Po by the authorities in the following days.
Ms Wong, Photo by Bastille Post
When asked whether she would return to her previous unit to live, she admitted that she had not yet decided. "If I come back to live, I will face a lot of sadness; but if I don't come back to live, my assets will be a problem." Moreover, she emphasized that at this stage, "everything cannot be 100% decided yet." Regarding the future arrangements of the properties, she believed that "the residents would want to rebuild the whole Wang Fuk Court. We don't want to see merely Wang Chi House will be left here."
Ms Wong, Photo by Bastille Post
In the fire, a pair of 30-year-old twin women surnamed Yam, unfortunately lost their lives. One of them was the sister-in-law of Ms Wong. She said that her family was extremely heartbroken about the news, but they would face it bravely and deal with the related procedures together. "There may be many difficult things in the following days, but we still have to move forward. No one could help us get rid of the sadness. The one that can help us would merely be ourselves." She also hoped that "her children would return to their normal life pace soon."
Mr Mak, Photo by Bastille Post
Another resident, Mr. Mak, also returned to his residence to pack up his belongings. He said that he and his parents, a family of three, were temporarily staying at a relative's home. He admitted that he did not want to return to live in the unit in Wang Fuk Court, but he still had no specific plans for future arrangements yet.
