Xinhua News Agency Hong Kong (Reporters Cao Jiyang, Cha Wenye) The Hong Kong SAR government announced on the 1st that it will provide medical fee reduction services to residents affected by the Wang Fook Court fire in Tai Po.

In order to more comprehensively meet the medical needs of the affected residents, the Medical and Health Bureau of the SAR Government has made special arrangements: all injured people who were sent to public hospitals under the Hospital Authority in this fire will receive the medical services (including drugs and Medical devices) will receive a full fee exemption; all residents of the eight buildings in Wang Fook Court (including foreign domestic helpers) can enjoy a full medical fee exemption arrangement until December 31 next year, covering many services of the Hospital Authority; the Department of Health will also provide corresponding fee exemption arrangements.

As of 1 p.m. that day, the "Tai Po Wang Fook Court Assistance Fund" established by the SAR government has received HK$1.3 billion in external donations. Together with the government's investment of HK$300 million in start-up capital, the total fund has reached approximately HK$1.6 billion, which will be used to assist residents in rebuilding their homes.

The SAR government previously announced that the foundation would distribute condolence payments of HK$200,000 and burial payments of HK$50,000 to the families of each victim. The first batch of 18 cases had been processed that day, and the funds are being distributed one after another. In addition, the SAR government also announced that the foundation will provide a living allowance of HK$50,000 to each affected family. The first batch of 20 cases has been processed that day, and the funds are being distributed one after another.

The SAR government has successively provided emergency subsidies of HK$10,000 to each affected household since the evening of November 27. As of 4:00 pm on the 1st, it had been distributed to 1,861 households.

Social workers of the Social Welfare Department have contacted about 1,450 affected households, registered more than 3,300 affected residents, and provided "one social worker per household" follow-up support service.

As of the morning of the 1st, 945 residents have stayed in youth hostels/camps or hotel rooms coordinated by the Home Affairs and Youth Affairs Bureau; another 1,470 residents have stayed in transitional housing of the Housing Bureau or units in Hong Kong Housing Society projects. In addition, the government continues to open two shelter centers for residents in need.

As of 4 pm that day, the fire had killed 151 people. The police said they would strive to complete the search and evidence collection within three weeks. At present, the search for 5 buildings has been completed, and more than 600 personnel were sent to search the remaining two most severely affected buildings that day. The police will continue to follow up on cases of missing persons and strive to confirm their circumstances as soon as possible.

After on-site investigation and evidence collection by the police, samples of shed nets collected from 7 places in the burning building did not meet the flame retardant standards. In addition to the previous arrests of three heads of engineering companies, the police also arrested 10 related persons from different engineering or engineering consulting companies on suspicion of manslaughter. The police are searching for evidence in many aspects and do not rule out the possibility of more arrests.

The Independent Review Team of the Housing Bureau, together with more than 100 professionals from the Housing Department, completed inspections of the overall structural safety of more than 1,700 units in Wang Fook Court in the past two days. According to professional assessment, the structural damage of a small number of units was serious, but the overall structure of all buildings was not in immediate danger.