Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades is raising questions about corruption and negligence in the renovations of the apartment complex where at least 128 people died.

Police continued to sweep the seven burnt-out towers engulfed in the disaster at the Wang Fuk Court estate, finding dead bodies in stairwells and on rooftops. More than 40 people are still missing.

The authorities said flammable netting and foam boards may have fueled the city’s deadliest blaze in nearly 80 years, killing more than 90 and prompting arrests.

A huge fire still burning in a Hong Kong high-rise apartment complex that has killed at least 55 people with almost 300 missing poses a major test of Beijing's grip on the city, which it has transformed since mass pro-democracy protests of 2019.

Wednesday’s blaze, which took until Friday to fully extinguish, started on the lower-level netting covering bamboo scaffolding around one building in the high-rise Wang Fuk Court complex.