HONG KONG — Thedeadly 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.
Firefighters combing each apartment in the charred tower complex had found dozens more bodies, officials said at a news conference, raising the death toll as smoke still drifted into the air of the Chinese territory some 48 hours after its deadliest blaze in decades.
The city's Secretary for Security, Chris Tang, told reporters that 89 bodies could not yet be identified, while there were also 79 people injured.
Preliminary findings revealed thatthe fire initially started in the surrounding netting outside the lower floors at Wang Cheong House,one of the seven impacted towers at the Wang Fuk Court building complex, Tang said.
"The foam boards covering the windows are highly flammable," Tang added,although the scaffold netting had been proven as flame-retardant.
He went on to add that the burning of the foam boards resulted in the fire quickly spreading to other floors and affecting six more blocks at Wang Fuk Court.
Police searched the offices of Prestige Construction and Engineering Co., the registered contractor hired to carry out the renovations, after arresting two directors and an engineering consultant on suspicion of manslaughter Thursday.
Calls to the company by NBC News went unanswered.
A 48-year-old woman named Cindy, who declined to give her full name for privacy reasons, said she grew up in Wang Fuk Court and felt "very sad" and "helpless" to see her parents' home completely burned down.
Cindy told NBC News on a sidewalk across from the affected buildings that her family had managed to escape and was now safe. "I really hope there are survivors. I'm wishing for a miracle to happen," she added.
The Fire Services Department said that a total of 12 people from the city's fire service had been injured as a result of the rescue efforts, with one in critical condition after suffering a heat stroke.
Among those killed was Ho Wai-ho, a 37-year-old firefighter who was one of the first people to respond. He died in the hospital after being found collapsed at the scene of the fire.