Hong Kong is one of the world's last remaining cities to use the frames for modern construction and building repair, a practice which dates back centuries in China and other parts of Asia.

Residents of Wang Fuk Court apartments had raised concerns about flammable foam panels and scaffold netting, but the government did not take decisive action.

Hong Kong’s worst residential fire in more than half a century is triggering worries that a swathe of the high-rise housing common in China’s cities could be susceptible to similar safety risks.

Flames leapt from one building to another in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district in a matter of hours, fuelled by scaffolding, green mesh and plastic foam boards that may have accelerated their spread. Here’s what we know so far.

The death toll from Hong Kong's worst fire in nearly 80 years has risen to 128 and about 200 people remain missing.

China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co. shares dropped Thursday due to the insurer’s exposure to a Hong Kong construction project tied to a deadly fire.

Jason Poon, a whistle-blower who has previously exposed shoddy construction work in Hong Kong, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that fire hazard risks existed in scaffolding at many housing complexes.

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions has raised 8 million yuan ($1.13 million) in urgent funding to support rescue and resettlement efforts after a major fire in Tai Po in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region that broke out on Wednesday.