Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in years burned through the night, leaving at least 44 people dead and 279 reported missing, with rescuers still pulling residents from blazing high-rise apartment buildings into Thursday morning.

Some residents who evacuated from the housing complex in Tai Po district, a suburb in the New Territories, were sheltering in a nearby community center set up by the government.

Lawrence Lee said he was at work on Wednesday afternoon when the fire broke out and that he had lost contact with his wife.

“When the fire started, I told her on the phone to escape. But once she left the flat, the corridor and stairs were all filled with smoke and it was all dark, so she had no choice but to go back to the flat,” he explained.

Police arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the fire.

Forty of the 44 fatalities were declared dead at the scene, officials said. At least 62 others were injured, many suffering from burn and inhalation injuries.

Authorities suspected some materials on the exterior walls of the high-rise buildings did not meet fire resistance standards, as the rapid spread of the fire was unusual.