The Home Affairs Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has opened up more channels in Hong Kong Friday for people to donate money to help victims in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

In addition to check donations at the 18 district offices' 20 public inquiry service centers and post offices, people can also bank-in the cash donations direct into one of the following bank accounts under the name of "The Secretary for Home Affairs Incorporated - Donations":

- Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation account 004-502- 256803-001; or

- Bank of China (Hong Kong) account 012-875-0-039683-3.

Checks should be addressed to "The Secretary for Home Affairs Incorporated - Donations" or "SHAI - Donations". Tax exemption may be granted to donations of 100 HK dollars (US$12.82) or above, according to the department.

The Liaison Office of the Central People's government in HKSAR has thus far received public donations from organizations and individuals worth more than 255 million HK dollars (US$32.73 million and 30.52 million yuan (about US$4.37 million).

The Hong Kong Red Cross has collected donation worth more than 150 million HK dollars (US$19.23 million) from the society in the city by Thursday.

Oxfam Hong Kong, a charity agency, has collected more than 35 million HK dollars (US$4.5 million) for the massive relief and rehabilitation effort.

The quake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, rocked Wenchuan County of southwest China's Sichuan Province at 2:28 PM on Monday as the death toll estimated at more than 50,000 people in Sichuan alone.

(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2008)