HONG KONG - Thousands of Hong Kong residents who lost their homes in a massive fire in 2025 are set to return from April 20 for the first time to collect what is left of their belongings.

The city’s deadliest fire in decades killed 168 people when it ripped through seven of the eight apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court high-rise complex in November.

For the first time since then, around 6,000 residents will be given three-hour windows to enter their homes from April 20 and get their belongings.

With 1,700 flats to pick through, the authorities hope the process will be completed by early May.

Officials have advised residents to prepare mentally, with the fire department warning that more than 920 homes had been damaged and some completely destroyed by the blaze.

Images released by government officials show the ceilings and walls of some flats have collapsed or been charred black, and the interiors littered with debris.

Damaged areas of the residential complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district have been cordoned off as “danger zones”, while reinforcement works have been carried where the building structure was compromised.

Survivor Harry Leung, one of the last residents to leave the complex on the day of the blaze, told AFP that he had mixed emotions about his return.

While keen to see the flat where he had spent most of his life, he said he was disappointed by the short time frame he was allowed to spend there.

Three hours, he said, was not enough time.

Hong Kong officials have offered to buy the apartments back around the pre-fire market price, despite the damage, but said that rebuilding the complex on the same site was “not feasible&rdqu...