Hong Kong tourism sector arranges free temporary accommodation for residents affected by Ngau Tau Kok blaze
Sixty-five rooms available so far, including space at Cruise Hotel and O’ Hotel in To Kwa Wan and Sunlight Hotel in Sham Shui Po
To offer relief to those affected by the ongoing Ngau Tau Kok blaze, the city’s tourism sector has announced that it will arrange temporary accommodations for residents who want to move out.
Hong Kong Tourism Association secretary-general Lam Siu-lun said they were able to locate 65 rooms after contacting a string of hotels and hostels.
The accommodations would be free of charge, he said.
The providers will include Cruise Hotel and O’ Hotel in To Kwa Wan and Sunlight Hotel in Sham Shui Po.
Further details would be announced on Friday afternoon after he got in touch with District Council members in the affected area, as well as lawmaker Paul Tse Wai-chun, Lam said. Tse was formerly the lawmaker for the tourism functional constituency before he went independent.
The blaze, the longest running in over two decades, has been burning at Amoycan Industrial Centre since Tuesday, and has claimed the lives of two firemen.
Concerns were raised over whether the building would collapse, or if the smoke coming from it was toxic and would affect residents in the area, though these fears were dismissed by government officials.
Residents of some elderly homes and residential blocks near the fire scene have already chosen to move out temporarily. Two schools and a kindergarten also announced on Friday that they were suspending classes.
Patrick Fung of environmental group Clean Air Network detected on Thursday levels of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) that were 80 times above the limit set by the World Health Organisation.
He said prolonged exposure to such a polluted environment would cause irreversible lung damage, and advised nearby residents to assess whether there was a need to abandon their homes.
