Death toll from Hong Kong high-rise public housing complex fire pass 100

One deadly fire wey burn through several high-rise tower blocks for Hong Kong kill more dan 100 pipo.

Dis make am di deadliest fire disaster wey hapun for di city in more dan 60 years.

Report say pipo still dey miss and dem don move thousands of residents go evacuation shelters.

Images from di scene show as fire still dey burn for several buildings, and thick smoke full di air for di Chinese territory skyline.

Police don arrest three men on top accuse of manslaughter wey connect to di fire, according to local media reports, and dem don launch investigation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping don express condolences to victims, plus to di "firefighter wey die for di line of duty", state media report.

Wetin cause di fire still neva dey clear.

Dis na wetin we know so far.

Where and when di fire start?

Di fire bin start for Wang Fuk Court, one very big housing complex wey pipo dey live for Hong Kong Tai Po district, at 14:51 local time on Wednesday (06:51 GMT).

Wang Fuk Court consist of eight tower blocks, each 31 storeys high.

Built in 1983, di tower blocks bin dey undergo renovations wen di fire break out.

Tai Po na residential district for di northern part of Hong Kong, near di city of Shenzhen on di Chinese mainland.

Di complex provide 1,984 apartments for some 4,600 residents, according to one 2021 govment census.

Nearly 40% of di 4,600 pipo wey dey live for Wang Fuk Court housing complex na at least 65, or older, according to di census.

Some of don live for di subsidised public housing estate since govment build am.

Wetin cause di fire?

Di cause of di fire dey unknown but one preliminary investigation discover say di speed wey e take spread dey unusual, Hong Kong security secretary tok early on Thursday morning.

Police tok say dem see one mesh material and plastic sheets for outside of di buildings - di two tins dem see no be fireproof.

Dem also see Styrofoam on di windows of di building - dat plus oda construction materials fit make di flames spread quickly, police too.

Police don arrest three men aged between 52 and 68 on accuse of manslaughter in connection wit di deadly fire - two of dem na di directors of one construction firm while di oda one na engineering consultant.

One police police tok-tok pesin say investigators dey look into dia alleged actions, or failure to act, of di company top officials.

"We get reason to believe say dos wey dey in charge for di company dey grossly negligent, and na wetin lead to dis accident and cause di fire to spread uncontrollably, and result in major casualties," di spokesperson tok.

Local media reports also quote some residents wey tok say di fire alarms for di building no go off.

How serious be di fire?

Dis na Hong Kong deadliest fire in at least 63 years and e dey classified as level five alarm - di highest in severity.

Within 40 minutes afta di tori first break, authorities bin declare am as level four, but by 18:22, about three and a half hours later, dem raise di level again.

Local media earlier report say dem fit hear explosions inside di building and fire hoses bin no fit easily reach di higher levels.

Di ferocity of di heat stop firefighters from entering di buildings to conduct rescue operations, deputy director of fire services Derek Armstrong Chan tell tori pipo.

Authorities also deploy 767 firefighters, 128 fire engines, 57 ambulances and some 400 police officers to quench di fire.

Wetin we know about di victims?

Among di pipo wey die na firefighter Ho Wai-ho, wey be 37-year-old. E bin dey wit di service for Sha Tin Fire Station for nine years.

Di fire service tok say dem lost contact wit am at 15:30, and about half an hour later, dem see say e don collapse. Dem carry am go hospital but declare am dead shortly afta.

"I dey seriously grieved at di loss of dis dedicated and gallant fireman," Andy Yeung, director of di fire service tok.

At least one oda firefighter dey for hospital, di Hong Kong fire service tok.

Police officers dey use loud speakers to help residents find dia family members, local media reports.

Wia di evacuated residents go stay?

Authorities don set up plenty emergency shelters to accommodate residents wey dey evacuated, di govment tok.

Di South China Morning Post bin report say one of dem - for Tung Cheong Street Sports Centre - dey full, and dem don direct residents go di oda shelters.

anoda one na di Kwong Fuk Community Hall, wey no far from di housing estate, but dem say e no dey safe. Dem move evacuees go anoda shelter, wey far from di area small.

BBC Chinese reporter Gemini Cheng see elderly residents, some dey use walking sticks or wheelchairs, as dem land for some of di shelters.

At least 900 pipo don take di offer to stay for shelter in such temporary facilities, Agence France-Presse reports, quote Lee.

Six schools for Tai Po go remain closed on Thursday, Education Bureau announce, e list di affected schools on dia website.

One emergency monitoring and support centre dey in operation to manage di impact of di fire, security secretary Tang Ping-keung tok for one statement.

Hong Kong police don set up one hotline for pipo to call in to ask about casualties.

Wetin fit trigger di fire to dey worse?

Di tower blocks for Wang Fuk Court dey covered in bamboo scaffolding and green construction netting, right up to di rooftops, bicos of di ongoing renovations.

As mentioned earlier, police don attribute di quick spread of di fire to materials wey dem dey use for di renovation, like di mesh netting, plastic sheeting and styrofoam.

E neva still dey clear wetin cause di fire, but no mata di cause of di fire, proper netting on di building exterior for prevent di spread of fire, Jason Poon, chairman of construction NGO China Monitor, tell news outlet Initium Media, e add say substandard netting fit cause di fire to spread fast.

Anoda engineer tell Initium Media tok say im believe say most of di mesh netting dem dey use in construction across Hong Kong no dey made of fire-retardant material.

One fire safety expert wey BBC bin follow tok earlier say di bamboo scaffolding - one common part of di city urban landscape - also play part in increasing di fire.

Local media reports for March tok say di govment development bureau don dey try to phase out di use of bamboo sake of safety concerns.

Di push towards using metal instead of bamboo bin come afta one time of scaffolding-related deaths for Hong Kong.

Professor Jiang Liming from Hong Kong Polytechnic University also note say di blocks for Wang Fuk Court dey "relatively old" - dem build dem for di 1980s - so "di glass windows no dey fire resilient".

We update dis story to reflect di number of pipo wey don dey confirmed say dem die for di incident.