HONG KONG: Hong Kong police said on Thursday (Nov 27) the death toll in a fire that ripped through residential blocks in the city had risen to 44, with 45 people still in a critical condition.

Authorities said on Wednesday that at least 279 people were still missing after the city's deadliest blaze in three decades ripped through high-rise residential towers sheathed in flammable bamboo scaffolding.

The fire department's deputy director Derek Armstrong Chan said 40 people died at the scene and four others died in hospital.

He added that fire services were struggling to reach the top floors of two buildings.

"In the hours of darkness, it will pose additional danger and difficulties to our operation, and up to this moment, the temperature inside the fire scene is still very high. So, we have difficulties proceeding to upper floors of two of the buildings."

He said that the fires in four of the eight buildings were under control and he expects firefighting to last until the evening.

Police said they are looking at a company that was carrying out maintenance work on the building.

"We have reason to believe that those in charge at the company were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties," said Eileen Chung, a senior superintendent of the Hong Kong Police Force.

Three people, aged between 52 and 68, were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, Chung said.

A massive fire ripped through multiple high-rise residential blocks in Hong Kong's northern Tai Po district on Wednesday, as authorities struggled to bring the blaze under control.

The fire shocked the Chinese financial hub, which has some of the world's most densely populated and tallest apartment blocks.

Hours after the fire started in the northern Tai Po district, flames and thick smoke still engulfed the 32-storey towers where many people were believed trapped inside. Rescue workers swarmed the site as shocked inhabitants watched on.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately known, but it was fanned by green construction mesh and bamboo scaffolding, a mainstay of traditional Chinese architecture but subject to a phase-out in Hong Kong since March for safety reasons.

Working through the night, firefighters were struggling to reach upper floors of the Wang Fuk Court housing complex, which has 2,000 apartments in eight blocks, due to the intense heat.

FIREFIGHTER AMONG THE DEAD

A firefighter was among those killed, Hong Kong leader John Lee told reporters. Some 900 people were in eight shelters.

"The priority is to extinguish the fire and rescue the residents who are trapped. The second is to support the injured. The third is to support and recover. Then, we'll launch a thorough investigation," Lee told reporters.

Sections of charred scaffolding fell from the burning blocks and flames could be seen inside apartments, sometimes belching out through windows into the night sky, casting an eerie orange glow on surrounding buildings.

"The temperature at the scene is very high and there are some floors where we have been unable to reach people who requested help, but we will keep trying," said Chan, the deputy director of fire service operations.

He said the fire likely spread from one building to another due to the wind and drifting debris, although he added that authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze.

Harry Cheung, 66, who has lived at Block Two in one of the complexes for more than 40 years, said he heard a loud noise about 2.45pm and saw fire erupt in a nearby block.

"I immediately went back to pack up my things," he said.

"I don't even know how I feel right now. I'm just thinking about where I'm going to sleep tonight."

CHINA'S XI URGES"ALL-OUT" EFFORT AGAINST FIRE

China's President Xi Jinping urged an "all-out effort" to extinguish the fire and to minimise casualties and losses, and he expressed condolences to the victims, including"the firefighter who died in the line of duty", China's state broadcaster CCTV said.

City leader Lee said he was"deeply saddened" and that all government departments were assisting residents affected by the fire.

Hong Kong's sky-high property prices have long been a trigger for social discontent in the city and the fire tragedy could stoke resentment towards authorities ahead of a city-wide legislative election in early December.

Hong Kong's Transport Department said that due to the fire, an entire section of the Tai Po road, one of Hong Kong's two main highways, had been closed and buses were being diverted.

At least six schools will be closed on Thursday due to the fire and traffic congestion, the city's Education Bureau said.

It was Hong Kong's worst fire since 41 people died in a commercial building in the Kowloon district in November 1996. That fire was caused by welding during internal renovations.

A public inquiry yielded sweeping updates to building standards and fire safety regulations in the city's high-rise offices, shops and homes.

BAMBOO SCAFFOLDING BEING PHASED OUT

Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world where bamboo is still widely used for scaffolding in construction.

On mainland China, where use of bamboo in construction originated from ancient times, scaffolding is now mainly metal.

Hong Kong's government moved to start phasing out bamboo scaffolding in March, citing worker safetyafter 22 deaths involving bamboo scaffolders between 2019 and 2024.

It announced that 50 percent of public construction works would be required to use metal frames instead.

Though fire hazard was not cited as a reason for the phase-out, there have been at least three fires involving bamboo scaffolding this year, according to The Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims in Hong Kong.

Wang Fuk Court is one of many high-rise housing complexes in Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Tai Po, located near the border with mainland China, is an established suburban district with some 300,000 residents.

Occupied since 1983, the complex is under the government's subsidised home ownership scheme, according to property agency websites. According to online posts, it has been undergoing renovations for a year at a cost of HK$330 million (US$42.43 million), with each unit paying between HK$160,000 and HK$180,000.

Owning a home is a distant dream for many in Hong Kong, one of the world's most expensive housing markets and where residential rents are hovering around record highs.