A senior Hong Kong official has said authorities will arrange for residents of the seven blocks gutted in November’s Wang Fuk Court fire to return home and gather personal belongings as early as late April.

Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk told RTHK on Thursday that the government needs around two months to prepare, owing to the safety hazards at the fire-ravaged housing estate and the significant manpower required. He added that details of the arrangement will be announced next month.

His comments came as more than 600 Wang Fuk Court residents signed a petition urging the government to allow them to return home to collect their belongings.

“Allowing them to return and take a look at their homes must be conducted in a safe manner,” he told RTHK in Cantonese.

Cheuk said the government will arrange for residents to return in batches, each accompanied by police or uniformed officers, social workers, and psychologists.

He said the lifts were out of service and residents should only take with them important personal belongings, or things with sentimental value.

Large items such as electronics should not be moved due to the difficulties involved in going up and down the buildings, he added.

Cheuk also said authorities plan to send workers to take photos of flats on higher floors or those that were severely damaged by the fire.

Residents can decide whether they want to return after seeing the interior of their homes, while elderly residents can ask younger relatives or friends to make the climb for them, he said.

But he denied that the government would create inventories of items inside flats for residents.

Petition

In a petition dated Wednesday, a group of Wang Fuk Court residents expressed their wish to go back to their homes to pick up personal items. As of Thursday night, around 630 residents had signed the petition.

“To stand before one’s own doorstep, yet be unable to enter, is an agony indescribable to outsiders,” the Chinese-language letter – seen by HKFP – read.

The residents also said some homes were left unharmed, citing surveillance camera footage.

They urged the government to refrain from sending workers into their flats without their presence due to privacy concerns.

The fire at Wang Fuk Court in November killed 168 people and displaced thousands – becoming the worst blaze in Hong Kong since 1948.

Only the residents of Wang Chi House – the sole block not ravaged by flames – were allowed to briefly return to their flats to collect personal belongings and essentials in December.