Macau Red Cross President Eddie Wong Yue Kai told yesterday’s media dinner that as the deadly blaze in Hong Kong’s Tai Po District’s Wang Fuk Court estate on November 26 resulted in significant casualties, his organisation received over 1,000 donations from local residents, totalling 2.55 million patacas.
Wong said that the funds will be transferred in full to the Hong Kong Red Cross to provide psychological support and related services for the inferno’s victims.
Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung announced yesterday that the death toll of the huge fire stands at 168.
Wong made the remarks during a media dinner hosted by the Macau Red Cross at the Federal Restaurant in Nape, adding that his organisation promptly activated its emergency mechanism and donated HK$500,000 to the Hong Kong Red Cross on the day after the blaze, specifically for emergency fire rescue efforts and the sheltering of affected residents.
Meanwhile, over the past year the Macau Red Cross made donations to 18 existing and ongoing projects in rural areas of Gansu, Guizhou, Guangdong, Jiangxi and other provinces, including three kindergartens, 15 health stations, two bridges, as well as one project each for a primary school, with a total amount of 6.52 million yuan (7.51 million patacas), Wong added.
The Macau Red Cross has also responded to disasters in various regions, such as urgently allocating 300,000 yuan (345 ,000 patacas) from its disaster relief fund to aid victims of the 6.8-magnitude earthquake in Shigatse prefecture, Xizang Autonomous Region, and the drought in Henan Province, Wong said.
Wong pointed out that his organisation has continued to make new progress in areas such as medical transport, first aid training, ambulance services, health education, care for the vulnerable, providing medical transport services 34,906 times for individuals with mobility difficulties and assisted with 9,548 hospital discharge transfers, and organising a total of 515 first-aid lectures and training courses over the year, training 10,907 members of the public, aiming to enhance the community’s emergency response and first aid capabilities.
Macau Red Cross President Eddie Wong Yue Kai addresses yesterday’s media dinner at Federal Restaurant in Nape. – Photo: Ida Cheong
