K-pop stars announce flurry of donations to support victims of Hong Kong tower fire

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — K-pop band aespa and other South Korean pop stars have announced a flurry of donations to support victims of an apartment fire in Hong Kong that killed at least 128 people in one of the city’s deadliest blazes.

Girl group aespa said they will donate 500,000 Hong Kong dollars ($64,000) to the Hong Kong Red Cross, according to a post on their official Weibo account. “We express our deepest sorrow regarding this heartbreaking news,” the band said.

Stray Kids pledged 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($129,000) through World Vision Hong Kong for temporary housing and other support for affected children and residents. “We were all very heavy-hearted upon hearing the unfortunate news from Hong Kong,” the group said.

SM and JYP Entertainment, two of South Korea's biggest entertainment companies, donated a combined 3 million Hong Kong dollars ($385,000) for emergency relief and disaster recovery.

Other K-pop groups that also pledged donations included boy bands Riize, EXO-CBX and KickFlip contributed 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($12,900) through World Vision Hong Kong.

Organizers of the MAMA AWARDS, an annual two-day K-pop awards ceremony scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Hong Kong, faced online criticism in South Korea for not canceling the event in light of the fire tragedy.

South Korean entertainment company CJ E&M canceled both days’ red carpet events but said the main ceremony would proceed.

“We express our deepest condolences to those who lost their lives in the fire in Hong Kong,” CJ E&M said in a statement. The company said the awards would add a “Support Hong Kong” message and include time for mourning. Organizers also pledged to donate 20 million Hong Kong dollars ($2.6 million) to the support fund established by the Hong Kong government.

“We believe in the healing and solidarity power of music,” the statement said.