Footage has emerged appearing to show the first moments of a fire that quickly engulfed a high-rise residential complex leaving at least 55 people dead in Hong Kong's Tai Po.

The blaze erupted on November 26 and has torn through seven of eight tower blocks in the district. The blaze is largely under control as of November 27.

According to reports, at least 55 people have been killed and hundreds are still unaccounted for.

Residents captured footage of the moment the exterior scaffolding first caught fire. The flames spread rapidly along the protective netting and scaffolding on the building’s exterior, engulfing the entire block in under 10 minutes.

Police investigations have found that the protective netting, waterproof tarpaulin and other materials used on the building’s exterior may not have met fire-safety standards. Three construction company executives have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

Industry experts say the main challenge in tackling the blaze stemmed from the complexity of “three-dimensional burning” in a high-rise structure. The fire spread rapidly along the scaffolding attached to the façade of the 40-year-old building, creating a “chimney effect”, which, combined with strong winds, made firefighting extremely difficult.

The “chimney effect” refers to the upward movement of smoke and hot air within relatively enclosed vertical spaces, driven by convection. This phenomenon typically causes flames to spread vertically through stairwells, pipe shafts, gaps in curtain walls and similar areas.