Anxious wait for relatives of people still missing in deadly Hong Kong fire

Families of residents still missing after a blaze engulfed an estate complex in Hong Kong on Wednesday face an agonising wait for news of their loved ones as the government needs more time to identify many of the bodies.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said on Friday that among the 89 unidentified bodies so far recovered from the charred buildings of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, about half would soon be identified as they were found inside their flats.

But authorities needed additional time to confirm the identity of the remainder, he explained.

The death toll from the blaze stood at 128 on Friday afternoon, with 79 injured. Two hundred people remain unaccounted for.

“There were 467 cases of help being sought for missing people, but some of these may have been a result of overlapping queries,” Tang said.

The cases covered 39 people found to have died, 35 who are being treated in hospital and 110 who were found safe.