A house in Hong Kong’s Clear Water Bay was burgled on Friday morning while its owner was travelling, with an estimated HK$5 million (US$642,530) in cash, handbags, watches and gold bars stolen, the Post has learned.

A source told the Post that a safe inside the house had been broken into, with HK$100,000 of cash, an additional HK$500,000 of foreign currency, five designer handbags, five watches and bullion worth HK$1 million stolen.

A construction company staff member reported the case to police at 11am on Friday, when a domestic helper employed at the house on Silver Crest Road alerted her to the burglary, according to a force spokesman.

“The staff went to the house for work purposes and later reported the case when the helper employed at the house told her about the burglary,” the spokesman said.

A preliminary police estimate of stolen property was around HK$5 million in value.

The source said the owner lived in the three-storey house with four family members and four domestic helpers. The family of five and one helper had travelled to Singapore on Wednesday and were due to return next Saturday.