Hong Kong police to release list of 161 Tai Po fire victims, some families told

Hong Kong police have informed some families who lost their loved ones in the tragic Tai Po fire that a full list of the 161 deceased will be made public, the Post has learned.

Six weeks after Wang Fuk Court fire, Hong Kong’s deadliest in decades, two residents who lost family members told the Post separately that officers contacted them by phone on Sunday to relay the plan.

“The police called us and said they will release the list. They didn’t ask if we agree or not, or tell us when,” said one resident, who asked not to be named.

Some other affected families, however, said they did not receive such a call on Sunday when asked by the Post.

The fire, which broke out on November 26, claimed at least 161 lives, injured 79, and displaced almost 5,000 people.

In the past weeks, media outlets and members of the public have urged the government to release a list of the deceased, as it did following the 2012 Lamma Island ferry collision that claimed 39 lives.