Residents of fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court can retrieve belongings from late April

Hong Kong authorities have said that residents of fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court will be allowed to return to their flats to collect personal belongings by late April – nearly five months after the city’s deadliest inferno in decades killed 168 people and displaced nearly 5,000 at the Tai Po estate.The announcement came a day after more than 630 displaced homeowners petitioned the government for their “humble and urgent” wish to retrieve cherished possessions that were not destroyed in the blaze.Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing, who chairs the Wang Fuk Court support fund steering committee, said that residents from the seven fire-affected blocks could return by late April at the earliest, noting that the two-month preparatory period would prioritise safety, with access granted in stages.“The operation … must be conducted under safe conditions,” Cheuk told public broadcaster RTHK. “There are safety hazards. There are still some overhanging scaffolds on the exterior of the buildings, and the interiors also have areas with severe damage, such as the ceilings, floors and walls.“It is a large-scale operation because it involves over 1,700 households. The difficulty level is also high, so we must carry out thorough deployment, extensive preliminary preparations and specific tasks for the day of the operation. Our current estimate is that it will take approximately two months to complete these tasks.”The fire, which broke out on November 26 last year, tore through seven of the eight residential towers at the estate, killing 168 including a firefighter and displacing nearly 5,000 residents.