HONG KONG, Dec 2 (Kyodo/APP): Nearly $400 million in donations have poured in for relief efforts following a massive fire at a Hong Kong high-rise housing complex, according to local media reports, with Japanese rock star Yoshiki among the contributors.
Donations from companies, organizations and individuals have amounted to some HK$3 billion ($385 million), including HK$1.2 billion from firms in mainland China, Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po newspaper said Monday.
Yoshiki said on his website that he has donated $100,000 through his U.S.-based foundation to the Hong Kong Red Cross to support fire victims. “I have performed many times in Hong Kong and have felt the warmth of the people there,” he said. “I pray that relief comes swiftly and that the community can begin to heal.”
The blaze that occurred last Wednesday at the Wang Fuk Court high-rise housing complex in the northern Tai Po district has left 151 people dead, with some 30 still unaccounted for.
Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and electric vehicle maker BYD Co. are among those who have pledged donations of more than HK$10 million.
Alibaba’s payment app Alipay has launched a special site to collect donations, through which about 420,000 people have offered a total of HK$180 million, according to the newspaper.
Separately, individuals in Hong Kong have made contributions totaling HK$900 million as of Sunday, the report said.