WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND (AP) – A fire ripped through a hostel in New Zealand’s capital overnight, killing at least six people and forcing others to flee the four-storey building in their pajamas in what a fire chief yesterday called his “worst nightmare”.
Six bodies were found but not all areas of the building had been searched yet because the roof on the top floor had collapsed, bringing down debris and making the area unsafe, said incident controller for Fire and Emergency New Zealand Bruce Stubbs. Officials said 52 people had made it out of the building alive but they were still trying to account for others.
Loafers Lodge resident Tala Sili told news outlet RNZ that he saw smoke pouring through under his door and opened it to find the hallway was pitch-black.
“I was on the top floor and I couldn’t go through the hallway because there was just too much smoke, so I jumped out the window,” Sili said. He said he fell onto a roof two floors below and was rescued by paramedics and treated for a sprained ankle.
The Loafers Lodge offered basic, affordable rooms with shared lounges, kitchens and laundry facilities to people of a wide range of ages. Some were placed there by government agencies and were considered vulnerable because they had little in the way of resources or support networks.
Firefighters were called to the hostel at about 12.30am. Emergency officials said the building had no fire sprinklers, which Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said was not required in New Zealand’s building code for older buildings that would have to be retrofitted.
Residents told reporters that fire alarms would regularly sound in the building, possibly from people smoking or overly sensitive smoke monitors, so many had initially thought it was another false alarm.
Hipkins said it could take authorities some time to confirm the number of dead. Police said they did not have an exact count, although they believed the death toll was less than 10.
Health authorities said two people who had been in the building were being treated at hospitals and both were in a stable condition. Three others had been treated and discharged, while a sixth patient had chosen to leave before getting treatment.
