Tai Po fire highlights domestic workers’ vulnerability, govt vows fire safety checks on renovations

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han confirmed on Saturday that at least two foreign domestic workers perished in the Wang Fuk Court inferno, and several more remain unaccounted for, with government officials already meeting Indonesian and Philippine consulate staff on site to coordinate support and repatriation arrangements if needed.

Sun said standard employment contracts and mandatory insurance policies will ensure the families of any deceased helpers receive compensation and that bodies can be flown home at no cost to relatives.

The tragedy has once again highlighted the vulnerability of the city’s migrant worker community, many of whom lived in the affected blocks.

In response to the disaster, authorities have launched immediate, phased inspections of every high-rise building across Hong Kong currently undergoing major external renovation work involving scaffolding and protective netting.

Sun told a radio program that the Labour Department is prioritizing other active sites run by the same contractor, while the Buildings Department is carrying out wider checks at maximum speed.

He revealed that between July last year and 20 November this year, labor inspectors visited the Wang Fuk Court project 16 times, issued six improvement notices, launched three prosecutions over unsafe work-at-height practices, and repeatedly warned the contractor in writing about fire prevention—warnings that also followed complaints about workers smoking on site.