ISTANBUL

Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency on Friday arrested eight more suspects in connection with the city’s deadliest fire in decades, which claimed 128 lives at a housing complex in the Tai Po district.

According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, the detainees include two directors of Will Power Architects Company, the consultancy overseeing the renovation of the fire-stricken Wang Fuk Court, along with six others.

The arrests follow Thursday’s detention of three senior staff members from Prestige Construction and Engineering Co. Limited, a renovation company that was working on the complex, including two directors.

A preliminary probe revealed that windows on each floor had been sealed with highly flammable styrofoam, which investigators said enabled the blaze to race through corridors and into apartments. Officials also said Wednesday night that the mesh netting and sheeting applied to the building’s exterior did not meet fire safety standards.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu previously ordered inspections of all public housing estates undergoing major renovation as authorities intensify their inquiry into what has become the city’s deadliest fire in 70 years.

Rescue operations continue after fires across seven blocks, housing roughly 4,000 people, were brought under control at Wang Fuk Court.

In total, 128 people were killed and 79 injured, including 12 firefighters, while the whereabouts of around 200 residents remain unknown.

The blaze marked the first issuance of a level-5 fire alarm – the highest rating on Hong Kong’s five-tier scale – in 17 years.

Companies and individuals have been donating heavily to support those affected. By Friday evening, a government relief fund had collected HK$800 million ($102.7 million), according to Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak.