{
  "id": 17026313,
  "title": "Housing chief Winnie Ho resigns over Wang Fuk fire",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/housing-chief-winnie-ho-resigns-over-wang-fuk-fire",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-29T07:06:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "RTHK English",
    "slug": "rthk-english",
    "url": "https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1875773-20261029.htm"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Chief Executive John Lee accepted the resignation of Housing Secretary Winnie Ho on Thursday, stating she must bear political responsibility for the Wang Fuk Court fire that claimed 168 lives last year. At a press conference, Lee and other officials expressed their deep sorrow and apologized to the victims and the public. Lee emphasized that while Ho did not act personally wrong, she was responsible politically due to her role as secretary for housing. He took into account various factors, including the roles of officials, the connection between their policy portfolios and the incident, the nature of the issues involved, the performance of subordinates, and the heavy workload faced by the political team. Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong will temporarily assume the position of secretary for housing.",
  "summary": "Chief Executive John Lee on Thursday said he accepted the resignation of Winnie Ho as secretary for housing, saying she had to shoulder political responsibility for last year's Wang Fuk Court fire that killed 168 people. At a press conference on Thursday, Lee and other principal officials also apologised and bowed. \"As chief executive and head of the government, I am deeply saddened. On behalf of…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}