Hong Kong tower fire toll rises to 128, as 200 remain missing

Firefighters have battled a devastating blaze at a high-rise apartment complex in Hong Kong for a second day, with the death toll rising to 128 on Friday morning.

On Thursday, rescuers with torches went from apartment to apartment, searching for survivors in the charred towers as thick smoke poured from the windows. The dense cluster of buildings housed thousands of people in Tai Po district, a northern suburb near Hong Kong’s border with China's mainland.

Hong Kong Security Chief Chris Tang said fire alarms in the complex had not been working properly.

A view of the rubble in the aftermath of the Tai Po apartment fire in Hong Kong. EPA

The final search of the buildings was expected to be completed later Friday at which point officials have said they will officially end the rescue phase of their operation. It was unclear how many people could be inside the buildings, which had almost 2,000 apartments and some 4,800 residents.

It took more than 1,000 firefighters some 24 hours to bring the blaze under control, and even nearly two days later, smoke continued to drift out of the charred skeletons of the buildings from the occasional flare-up.

Dozens of domestic workers from the Philippines had been caught up in the disaster and 19 were still missing, said Edwina Antonio, executive director at migrant women refuge association Bethune House.

The fire is Hong Kong's deadliest since 1948, when 176 people died in a warehouse blaze, and has prompted comparisons to London's Grenfell Tower inferno, which killed 72 people in 2017.

Hong Kong's leader, John Lee, said the government would set up a HK$300 million ($39 million) fund to help residents while some of China's biggest listed companies announced donations.

On the second night after the blaze, dozens of evacuees set up mattresses in a nearby mall, many saying official evacuation centres should be saved for those in greater need.

A major fire ripped through several residential towers in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong. EPA Some apartments were still burning after the blaze at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate. AFP Health workers evacuate a woman. AP A man worried his wife is trapped inside cries as flames engulf the towers. Reuters Thick smoke and flames rise from the residential estate. AFP A firefighter was among several people killed in the blaze, authorities said. AP There are nearly 2,000 units in the housing complex, according to the Hong Kong Housing Authority. AP The district is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. AFP

Pope Leo XIV, who is in Turkey for his first overseas visit, said he was praying for the vict