Hi-tech aids proposed to help elderly climb stairs to fire-ravaged Tai Po flats

Some anxious residents of fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court have urged Hong Kong authorities to help them climb stairs using makeshift aids when they return to their high-rise homes to collect personal belongings next month.Some lawmakers also proposed on Saturday that the government deploy wearable walking robots, stair-climbing trolleys or wheelchairs to assist elderly residents of the Tai Po estate devastated by the inferno that claimed 168 lives and displaced nearly 5,000 people in November.They raised the suggestions as some worried residents scrambled for ways to navigate the stairs of blocks, which are more than 30 storeys high.One resident said he would write to officials to lobby for the installation of ramps over stairs to ease access and transport of larger items.Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing said on Thursday that residents of the seven fire-damaged blocks could return to collect personal belongings in late April at the earliest.Access will be via rear stairs only, as lifts remain inoperative after the fire. Residents have been advised to retrieve only valuable and portable items.