Hong Kong (AFP) - The death toll from Hong Kong’s worst fire in decades rose to 128 on Friday, as authorities arrested eight more people and outlined how malfunctioning fire alarms and flammable construction materials led to the tragedy.

Families scoured hospitals and victim identification stations hoping to find their loved ones, with around 200 people still listed as missing and 89 bodies as yet unidentified.

Flames moved quickly through the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po district on Wednesday afternoon, spreading through seven of the eight high-rises and transforming the densely packed complex into an inferno.

A picture began to emerge on Friday of the interlocking factors that resulted in the world’s deadliest building fire since 1980.

Authorities said preliminary investigations suggested that the fire had started in protective netting on the lower floors of one of the towers and that “highly flammable” foam boards, as well as bamboo scaffolding, had contributed to its spread.

Fire services chief Andy Yeung said investigators had found that alarm systems in all eight blocks “were malfunctioning”, and that they would take action against the contractors.

Residents were still searching for lost loved ones.

“We have been visiting the scene every day,” said a man surnamed Fung, who was looking for his 80-year-old mother.

“She is on antibiotics… so she is always sleeping. There was no fire alarm so she might not have known there was a fire,” he said.

The city’s anti-corruption watchdog said it had arrested eight people on Friday in connection with the fire, including “consultants, scaffolding subcontractors and (a) middleman of the project”.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption launched a probe into the renovation project on Thursday, hours after police said separately they had arrested three men on suspicion of negligently leaving foam packaging at the site.

The blaze was “largely extinguished” by Friday morning after burning for more than 40 hours, fire services said, with their search for survivors in the more than 1,800 flats on the estate finished.

- ‘Cannot find them’ -

Workers at the charred apartment blocks brought out bodies in black bags on Friday morning. An AFP reporter counted four in one 15-minute period.

Vehicles unloaded corpses at a mortuary in nearby Sha Tin, another reporter saw, with families arriving in the afternoon for identification.

A woman surnamed Wong was looking for her sister-in-law and her sister-in-law’s twin at one hospital in Sha Tin, but without luck.

“We still cannot find them. So we are going to different hospitals to ask if they have good news,” the tearful 38-year-old told AFP.

“We were already waiting at the Prince of Wales Hospital on the first day but there was no news. We also came here yesterday.”

Dozens were still in hospital on Friday, with 11 in critical condition and 23 listed as serious.

“One building went up in flames and it spread to two more blocks in less than 15 minutes,” a 77-year-old eyewitness surnamed Mui told AFP.

“It was burning red, I shudder to think about it.”

- Investigations could take weeks -

The blaze was Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948, when an explosion followed by a fire killed at least 135 people.

Lethal blazes were once a regular scourge in densely populated Hong Kong, especially in poorer neighbourhoods, but improved safety measures have made them far less common.

The city’s security chief Chris Tang said the full investigation into the fire’s causes could take up to three to four weeks.

The Labour Department told AFP on Friday that it had issued repeated written warnings to remind the contractor to “implement appropriate fire prevention measures”.

Hong Kong authorities said they will immediately inspect all housing estates undergoing major work following the disaster, and will look into shifting construction sites to metal scaffolding in the longer term.

They have announced a HK$300 million ($38.5 million) fund to help victims of the fire, as well as organising temporary accommodation for those who have lost their homes.

A spontaneous community effort to help firefighters and those displaced had become a well-oiled machine by Friday.

Separate supply stations for clothes, food and household goods had been set up at a public square near the towers, as well as booths providing medical and psychological care.

So much was donated that organisers put out a call on social media saying no more was needed.