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

HONG KONG — 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.

HONG KONG — 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.