Ten migrant workers are known to have been killed in the blaze at Wang Fuk Court, while 30 others remain unaccounted for. A total of 235 domestic helpers, from the Philippines and Indonesia, were said to have been employed at the housing estate.
The next of kin of each worker killed will be given one-off financial assistance of HK$250,000, on top of the statutory compensation of over HK$500,000 they are entitled to, Labour and Welfare Secretary Chris Sun said on Tuesday.
“They will be receiving roughly HK$800,000,” Sun said.
“We are going to distribute [the financial assistance] in Hong Kong, through the Labour Department, where we work with the consulates. The key is to… make sure that only their genuine family members are eligible to claim the financial assistance.”
Domestic workers injured in the fire will get HK$50,000 or HK$100,000 in assistance, depending on their stay in hospital. Others who survived the blaze will receive HK$20,000.
The government is also offering an Octopus card loaded with HK$2,000 to each worker, whether they were injured or not.
Regarding the employment of foreign domestic helpers affected by the fire, Sun said officials will be “as flexible and as helpful as possible” to assist them.
The Secretary for Migrant Workers of the Philippines, Hans Cacdac, said authorities are working to track down the 94 Filipino helpers who listed Wang Fuk Court as their address in the past two years.
“We’ve been able to trace them one by one. Some have returned to the Philippines, some have moved on to another country. We’ve just been very mindful of the fact that they may not have been necessarily at the towers at the time of the incident,” he said.
“Thus far, we have accounted for all the family requests back home… We know of no family request that has not been covered at this stage.”
One Filipino worker was confirmed to have died in the fire, and Cacdac said her remains would be repatriated to her family in the Philippines very soon.
The death toll among Indonesian domestic helpers in the blaze stands at nine, according to the country’s consulate.
