Mourners flock to site as Beijing warns against protests

More than a thousand people turned out Sunday to pay tribute to the victims of Hong Kong's deadliest fire in more than 75 years, as Beijing warned it would use a national security law to crack down on any "anti-China" protest in the wake of the blaze.

- REUTERS

The cause of the blaze at a high-rise apartment complex, remains under investigation, amid public anger over missed fire risk warnings and evidence of unsafe construction practices.

Police said Sunday evening the confirmed death toll had risen to 146 after they completed a sweep of five of the burnt out towers. Some bodies had been found in stairwells and on rooftops where residents had tried to flee. More than 40 people are still considered to be missing in the fire, police said.

Mourners queued for more than a kilometre along the banks of a canal near the burnt-out Wang Fuk Court housing complex to lay white flowers for those who died. Some attached notes addressed to the victims.