Hong Kong blaze death toll rises to 128 amid final search for survivors

Firefighters walk past the scene at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong’s New Territories (Chan Long Hei/AP)

Hong Kong firefighters are searching through a high-rise tower complex apartment-by-apartment for more victims after a massive fire engulfed seven of its eight buildings, killing at least 128 people in one of the city’s deadliest blazes.

Crews were prioritising apartments from which they received more than two dozen calls for assistance during the blaze but were unable to reach, Derek Armstrong Chan, a deputy director of Hong Kong Fire Services, told reporters.