Wang Fuk Court residents continued to return to their fire-scorched housing estate to collect personal belongings over the weekend.
One family said they planned to take “one last photo” inside their flat, while a couple brought flowers to mourn a neighbour who died in the blaze. Residents collecting their belongings at Wang Sun House, Wang Fuk Court on April 20, 2026. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Residents of Wang Cheong House, the tower first hit by the blaze in November, as well as those of Wang Yan House and Wang Tao House – both of which sustained relatively little damage in the inferno – were allowed to return to their homes in batches on Saturday and Sunday.
It was five months ago that the blaze broke out and engulfed seven of the Tai Po housing estate’s eight blocks, killing 168 people and displacing thousands.
The government has offered to buy back the flats in the seven fire-damaged blocks and plans to tear them down and build a park or other community facilities on the site.
Returning with her sister and elderly parents, a Wang Tao House resident surnamed Poon said her family would take a group portrait in their apartment as a keepsake, local media reported .
“We had many family gatherings here. Each time a family member celebrated their birthday, we would return home for dinner… A lot of group photos were taken in this apartment. Many things happened here,” she told reporters in Cantonese. Members of Hong Kong’s government-appointed “Care Teams” assist residents of the fire-hit Wang Fuk Court with carrying personal belongings collected from their ravaged flats on April 20, 2026. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. “So, as this could be our last chance to return, we have decided to take one more family portrait inside the flat.”
She said the three-hour limit for collecting belongings was not enough. “You need more than three hours to pack if you pack for a holiday. Let alone if we retrieve belongings from a lifetime.”
‘To say goodbye’
While some residents successfully found documents and valuables from their flats, others said there might not be much to salvage.
“Everything’s been burned, there’s not much to collect,” an elderly Wang Cheong House resident surnamed Tang, who moved there when Wang Fuk Court opened in 1983, told reporters in Cantonese.
She climbed the building with her daughter despite having to walk with a cane. The pair retrieved only some jewellery, pottery, and coins. Residents of Wang Fuk Court return to their homes on April 23, 2026, to collect what is left of their personal belongings after a massive blaze that killed 168 people in their housing estate. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Tang also paid tribute to several neighbours on the same floor who could not escape the fire. “The neighbours were really kind. I was sad that I couldn’t tell them to leave in time,” she said.
A resident surnamed Ma and his wife brought flowers to mourn a neighbour who died in the fire after learning of the death in a Facebook group for residents.
“Now that we can return… we want to pay tribute to her, to say goodbye,” the husband said.
Wang Fuk Court residents will continue to visit their homes until May 4, with some expressing a desire to return for a second time .