Streams of mourners have laid flowers at a makeshift memorial by the foot of the blackened buildings of a Hong Kong apartment complex that went up in flames, killing at least 128 people. Hong Kong authorities are yet to confirm the identities of 44 more bodies out of the 128 recovered so far.

About 150 people remain missing after the eight-building apartment complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po neighbourhood caught fire on Wednesday, just before 3pm local time. It took until Friday to fully extinguish.

On Sunday, scenes in Tai Po were sombre as mourners laid flowers, bowed their heads at the scene of the fire in silent prayer, or left handwritten notes. Thousands have now visited the site to pay tribute to the dead and to donate supplies to those who lost everything in the blaze.

The apartment complex of eight, 31-storey buildings had more than 4,600 residents before the blaze, many of whom are now housed in short-term emergency shelters or hotels. Authorities are working on longer-term solutions for those rendered homeless in the wake of the worst fire to happen in Hong Kong in seven decades. 

Hong Kong officials announced late Saturday they had ordered the immediate suspension of work on 28 building projects undertaken by the same contractor, the Prestige Construction & Engineering Company, for safety audits.

The eight buildings of the Wang Fuk Court complex in the suburb of Tai Po had all been clad in bamboo scaffolding draped with nylon netting for renovations, with windows covered by polystyrene panels, and authorities are now investigating whether fire codes were violated.

Preliminary investigations showed the fire started Wednesday afternoon on a lower-level scaffolding net of one of the buildings. It then spread rapidly inside as the foam panels caught fire and blew out windows, Hong Kong’s secretary for security Chris Tang said.

Winds helped fan the flames, allowing the fire to jump from building to building. Seven of the eight buildings in the complex were soon engulfed, with crews of more than 2,000 firefighters finally extinguishing the flames more than 40 hours later. Hong Kong Fire Services director Andy Yeung said that first responders found that some fire alarms in the complex, which housed many older people, did not sound when tested. Mr Yeung is also part of the investigation into the deadly blaze.

Authorities said Saturday they need to identify 44 more bodies out of the 128 recovered so far. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry confirmed that two of the dead are Indonesian nationals. According to the Philippines Consulate General in Hong Kong, one Filipino woman was also killed, and a further 12 others remain unaccounted for.

“Far from her native home, she had made innumerable sacrifices to provide a better life for her family,” the Consulate General said in a Saturday statement confirming the Filipino woman’s death.

In Beijing, the Ministry of Emergency Management announced a nationwide inspection of high-rise buildings to identify and remove fire hazards.

“Bamboo scaffolding, non-flame-retardant safety nets… and firefighting facilities and equipment such as fire hydrant systems, automatic sprinkler systems and automatic fire alarm systems, will be among the main items to be inspected,” the ministry said.