Hong Kong fire death toll rises to 128, with 200 still missing and 8 more arrested

( NBC )

The inferno that tore through a high-rise housing estate in Hong Kong has killed at least 128 people, authorities said Friday, with some 200 people still missing and eight more arrested.

Firefighters combing each apartment in the Wang Fuk Court tower complex found dozens more bodies, officials said at a news conference Friday as smoke from the blaze was still drifting in the air well over 48 hours since it broke out.

Hong Kong's Secretary for Security Chris Tang told reporters Friday that 89 bodies could not yet be identified. Seventy-nine people were injured, he said. Tang declined to identify the gender and ages of the deceased, saying the investigation was ongoing and the data incomplete.

But he insisted there was “nothing the government is not willing to release,” and officials were “more than happy” to roll out relevant details at an appropriate time.

The deadliest blaze in the Chinese territory for seven decades has nonetheless fueled calls for greater accountability and transparency from the local government over potential regulatory negligence.

Residents in Wang Fuk Court have said they repeatedly complained to the city’s Labor Department about the flammability of the protective green mesh that was used to cover bamboo scaffolding raised around the buildings, only to be told that the fire risk was relatively low, Reuters reported Friday.

Cindy, who declined to give her full name for privacy reasons, told NBC News on Thursday that she grew up in Wang Fuk Court and felt “very sad” and “helpless” to see it completely burned down. The 48-year-old said her family had managed to escape adding, “I really hope there are survivors. I’m wishing for a miracle to happen.”

Tang said preliminary findings suggested the fire started in netting surrounding the lower floors at Wang Cheong House, one of the seven impacted towers at the Wang Fuk Court building complex.

Styrofoam on the windows, which was “highly flammable,” fueled the blaze to spread rapidly upward and extend to six more buildings, he said, adding the flames shattered glass and penetrated interiors, burning both inside and outside the buildings simultaneously.

The intense heat then ignited the bamboo scaffolding, which also sparked secondary fires when it fell down, he said.

“Although the mesh netting met certain flame-retardant requirements, they could still catch fire when exposed to high temperatures,” Tang said. “Bamboo scaffolding could also catch fire,” he added. “They are only flame-retardant. And this is our initial assessment of the situation.”

Within hours, Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption said in a statement that it had set up a “task force to launch a full investigation into possible corruption” and eight people had been arrested including “consultants, scaffolding subcontractors and middleman.”

It came after police searched the offices of Prestige Construction and Engineering Co., the registered contractor hired to carry out the renovations on Thursday. Officers also arrested two directors and an engineering consultant on suspicion of manslaughter.

Calls to the company by NBC News went unanswered.

The cause of the fire also remains under investigation, which may take three to four weeks to complete, officials said at the Friday news briefing. Rescuers faced significant difficulties during operations due to the extremely high ambient temperatures reaching or sometimes exceeding 500 degrees Celsius, they added.

Additionally, the fire alarms in all eight blocks didn’t sound off when the blaze broke out, Andy Yeung, the director of Hong Kong’s Fire Services, told reporters.

Yeung’s department said Wednesday that Ho Wai-ho, one of the first firefighters on the scene died in hospital after he was found collapsed at the scene. The 37-year-old had suffered burns to his face.

Another 12 firefighters were injured and one was in critical condition after suffering a heat stroke, Hong Kong’s Fire Services added Friday.