Wellington fire: Up to 10 dead & 30 missing after blaze erupts at hostel & locals fear ‘it was started deliberately’
UP to 10 people are dead and as many as 30 are missing after a blaze ripped through a hostel with fears it could have been started deliberately.
The horror fire broke out in a four-storey hostel building in central Wellington, New Zealand, overnight.
A fire chief described it as his “worst nightmare”.
Wellington Free Ambulance treated 15 people at the scene, according to a TVNZ report.
Five people are currently in hospital with one of those in a serious condition.
The report added that five people had to be rescued from the rooftop of the hostel.
It has been confirmed by authorities that there were no sprinklers in the building.
The country’s Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said he understood six people have been confirmed dead, but there could be more fatalities, while authorities say 30 people have not been accounted for.
Mr Hipkins described the fire as a “tragic situation” and said there would be a number of investigations into the fatal fire.
Wellington Area Commander Inspector Dean Silvester said the police’s main priority is to find out how many people were living in the building at the time of the blaze.
The emergency services were called to the Loafers Lodge hostel just before 12.30am, local time, where a fire had started on the top floor, according to the New Zealand Herald.
Wellington Fire and Emergency District Manager Nick Pyatt said 52 people have been accounted for from the building, with a number of people still missing.
The hostel can accommodate 92 people although it is not clear how many people were inside the building at the time.
According to the Herald, there is speculation speculation the fire may have been started deliberately.
Pyatt told the paper: “I can sadly report that this will be a multi-fatality incident.
“Our thoughts at this time are with the families of those who have perished and with our crews who valiantly rescued those and attempted to rescue those that they couldn’t.
“This is our worst nightmare. It doesn’t get worse than this.”
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau said this is “our worst nightmare.”
”I’m devastated,” she told TVNZ’s Breakfast show, ”I dare say it’s been a shock to the system – a very emotional few minutes with the crew here.”
“I’m feeling the emotion and the remorse… here as well,” Whanau added.
Warren Holdaway, a resident of the hostel said one of the most heartbreaking things was the loss of community.
He said: “Whatever people said about that building, it was our home. And now we’re all going to be split up into different motels and hotels, and that community will never be together again.”
Warren added he ran out of the building the minute he could smell smoke.
He said: ”It is a big building and it was right down the end from me when I opened my bedroom door I could smell the smoke.
”It took me 15-20 seconds to get out of the building from where I was. I was only just down the corridor from a stairwell.”
He said another fire alarm had gone off earlier in the evening but added he didn’t know what it was about.
Warrend added: ”I live on the second floor and the fire was on the third floor, at the other end of the building.”
”Fire and emergency services were still arriving when I came out of the building.
“Fire brigade got themselves set up and then the flames burst through the roof, the windows.”
A man who lives on the third floor told the Breakfast show he believed there could have been two fires in the building.
He said during the second fire, he opened his door to see thick, black smoke and heard people yelling for help.
A resident who was on the third floor said many of the people who lived on the top floors of the building were elderly.
Loafers Lodge Property Manager Murray Murphy told the Herald: ”I don’t live at the lodge. I was called just after midnight about the fire. Firefighters are still here.
”I just found out from a reliable source that there have been several fatalities.
”Tenants had been moved to Newtown Park stadium so they were all together.
”Wellington District Council is also helping the ones who have no family here to get temporary accommodation.”
Pyatt said: ”Our comms centre staff (emergency call-takers) who were on the phone to people who they then lost contact with. This hurts us deeply.“
”This is our once-in-a-decade fire for Wellington.“
”This is a tragic event for all involved,” he said.