The death toll from the Hong Kong apartment complex fire that began on Wednesday has risen to 128, with officials reporting up to 200 people still missing, as rescue operations were declared nearly complete. Firefighters combed through the high-rises on Friday morning in a final effort to locate any survivors following one of the city’s deadliest blazes in decades.

The fire swept through seven of the eight towers in the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po, a northern district of Hong Kong, where more than 4,600 residents lived. Renovation work, including bamboo scaffolding and green mesh covering the towers, is believed to have contributed to the rapid spread of the flames. By Friday morning, most of the fire had been contained, though a few apartments remained ablaze, with authorities focused on preventing reignition.

At the Kwong Fuk Estate community centre adjacent to the complex, residents gathered to identify bodies recovered from the buildings. Only a limited number of names have been released publicly. Rescue teams prioritized apartments from which they had received multiple emergency calls during the fire, according to Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Hong Kong Fire Services, who said authorities had made every effort to access all units in the affected towers.

Families of the missing expressed anguish and uncertainty. One man, Mr Lau, said his parents were missing but he feared they had perished. A female resident from the 10th floor reported that her family was safe but her neighbors were unaccounted for, describing a sense of helplessness and frustration at the ongoing disruption.

International attention was also present, with Indonesia’s consul-general Yul Edison arriving to assist in identifying deceased nationals. Among the victims confirmed so far is at least one Indonesian, while local NGOs reported that 11 Indonesian and 19 Filipino domestic helpers remain missing from the 119 known to live in the complex. Crowd-sourced data compiled by residents helped track individual apartments and the status of their occupants. Reports included the deaths of a 60-year-old man, a 90-year-old woman, and a 40-year-old Indian domestic helper living on the 11th floor, as well as four fatalities eight floors above.

Police and anti-corruption authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire. Three individuals associated with the construction company involved in the estate’s long-term renovations have been arrested. Officials highlighted the role of the bamboo scaffolding, green mesh, and highly flammable styrofoam used in elevator window coverings, raising concerns about fire safety compliance.

Experts have called for stricter regulations on construction materials. Lee Kwong-sing, chair of the Hong Kong Institute of Safety Practitioners, noted that flame-retardant materials are currently recommended in codes of practice but not legally mandated. Making such requirements compulsory could strengthen building safety standards and prevent future tragedies.

The devastation has fueled public calls for urgent reform in fire safety legislation, emphasizing that the combination of flammable materials and insufficient legal enforcement contributed significantly to the scale of the disaster.

Financially, the losses are significant, with the estate housing thousands and the cost of property damage alone expected to run into hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars (approx. 20–25 million euros), not including the broader social and humanitarian impact.