Thirteen people have been arrested for suspected manslaughter after Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades, officials have said.

At a press conference about the tragedy at Wang Fuk Court , police said 151 people had now died as a result of the blaze - Hong Kong's worst since 1948 - and that more than 40 are still missing.

An emotional Tsung Shuk Yin, a police official, told reporters on Monday: "Some of the bodies have turned into ash, therefore, we might not be able to locate all missing individuals."

The fire last week engulfed multiple high rise blocks of flats. Officials overseeing investigations said that tests on several samples of a green mesh that was wrapped around bamboo scaffolding on the buildings at the time of the blaze did not match fire-retardant standards.

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