A visual guide to how the Hong Kong fire spread
Hong Kong is still waiting to learn the full scale of the tragedy that unfolded on Wednesday when a fire engulfed several apartment buildings.
At least 128 people are known to have died, dozens have been injured and thousands more have lost their homes and are living in evacuation shelters. Some residents are still unaccounted for.
Police investigators have been searching the charred shells of the tower blocks to gather evidence and determine the cause of the fire. Bodies of some of the victims are believed to remain inside the buildings.
The fire broke out in a large housing complex in Tai Po, a residential district in the northern part of Hong Kong.
The Wang Fuk Court complex, which was built in 1983, contains nearly 2,000 apartments.
The entire complex had been undergoing renovations since 2024, with the buildings surrounded in bamboo scaffolding and protective netting.
This is the earliest known video of the fire confirmed by BBC Verify. It was posted on social media by someone who said they heard banging sounds before spotting the fire at 14:51 local time (06:51 GMT) and raising the alarm.
The person filming, or those around them, can be heard shouting "Hurry up and get out, there’s a fire!" and "This is bad - we’re getting out of here too".
According to a post on social media, it took six minutes to spread to other floors. Ninety minutes after it began, the fire had spread to at least two other towers nearby.
Within hours, the fire had been declared a level five fire - the most severe level.
The ferocity of the heat prevented firefighters from entering the buildings at times to conduct rescue operations, deputy director of fire services Derek Armstrong Chan told media.
Friends and relatives of those inside - and those residents who had managed to escape - could only watch and wait as the buildings burned.
The inferno was Hong Kong's deadliest fire since 1948.
At its peak, the fire reached temperatures of 500C (932F), authorities said, adding that this caused the blaze to reignite in some places after being doused.
They said all fires had been put out by around 10:18 local time (02:18 GMT) on Friday, around 44 hours after it started.
The Wang Fuk Court complex houses some 4,600 people, according to the latest census. Each of the eight towers has 31 floors - each with a similar layout.
Nearly 40% of the residents at Wang Fuk Court are estimated to be at least 65 years old according to the latest census. Fire alarms in all eight blocks were not working effectively, the fire service later found, and some residents say they were only warned of the danger by relatives.
Building materials
Investigators will be looking at the impact of the materials involved in the renovation work being carried out on the building - including plastic sheets and Styrofoam, which police say are not believed to be fireproof.
The Styrofoam panels appear to have been attached to buildings' windows to prevent them from being damaged during the renovations.
"Based on the preliminary information we have, we believe the fire started on the netting outside the lower floors... and quickly spread upward due to burning foam boards, affecting multiple floors," Hong Kong's Security Secretary Chris Tang told a press conference.
Mr Tang said the high temperatures also caused the bamboo scaffolding to burn, and "the bamboo sticks that were broken by fire fell down and spread the blaze to other floors".
Though it is a common sight on building sites across Hong Kong, local authorities have been looking to phase out the use of bamboo because of safety concerns.
Satellite images taken before the fire show how the buildings had all been draped in the mesh netting during the renovation work.
Three people who were overseeing the renovations at the Wang Fuk buildings are under arrest for manslaughter, and eight have been arrested on suspicion of corruption related to the works.
The government of Hong Kong says it has opened temporary shelters for residents and schemes will be set up to arrange financial assistance for those who have lost their homes.
Media credits
Leung Man Hei/EPA/Shutterstock, Chunyip Wong/Getty Images, Lam Yik/Bloomberg, Tyrone Siu/Reuters; Yan Zhao/Getty Images; Satellite image by Vantor; Videos @striking_biking and Yemao Chan. Video analysis by BBC Verify and additional reporting by Emma Pengelly and Yi Ma
