At least six persons died overnight on Tuesday when a fire broke out in a hostel in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, according to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.
The cause of the blaze was still unknown. According to the prime minister, there will be "several investigations" into the catastrophe.
At Lease 6 Dead in Hostel Fire in Wellington, New Zealand
Brendan Neally, a fire department representative, told Radio New Zealand that the hostel lacked sprinklers and that the fire alarm did not sound automatically. New Zealand's building regulations mandate the installation of sprinklers in newly constructed buildings but not in older structures.
The hostel passed a building inspection that included testing of the building's safety systems in March of this year, according to a statement from the Wellington City Council.
Some Loafers Lodge residents were beneficiaries of New Zealand's social welfare agency. According to officials, the 92-room hotel was entirely occupied when the fire broke out.
More than fifty residents who had escaped the fire were located, and five others were rescued from the hostel's roof, according to officials.
One of the four hospitalized individuals is in critical condition. At its height, more than eighty firefighters were combating the fire, which was extinguished around 6 a.m., Neally stated that eleven individuals were still missing.
Inspector Dean Silvester, a police spokesman, said that it was still unclear how many people had perished because the building was inaccessible. A drone was used to inspect the structure for structural damage, as per NY Times.
The hostel is located in Newtown, a socially and racially diverse neighborhood less than a mile from the city center of Wellington, where soaring house prices have driven out many students and low-income families.
Wellington Fire May Be Intentionally Ignited
According to The Sun, a fire commander referred to the terrifying conflagration as his "worst nightmare." Locals suspect the fire may have been intentionally ignited.
The Wellington Free Ambulance treated fifteen individuals at the site, and five people were rescued from the roof. People are believed to have jumped from windows to escape the fire.
According to a source, there are fatalities on every building floor. At 4 a.m. local time, at least 20 fire engines and up to 90 firefighters were battling what Wellington Fire and Emergency District Manager Pyatt described as a "once-in-a-decade conflagration."
The mayor of Wellington, Tory Whanau, stated that this is "our worst nightmare." The 92-room Loafers Lodge Hostel accommodates both short- and long-term visitors. In 2011, the Ministry of Social Development of New Zealand designated it as an emergency accommodation provider.
As of February, more than 3,300 households reside in emergency housing, according to official data. Per BBC, Loafers' customers range from shift employees like nurses and hospital personnel to the unemployed and homeless.
In comments to local media, Hipkins described the fire as "an unmitigated tragedy" and praised local firefighters "who placed themselves in harm's way over the past several hours to evacuate people and extinguish the fire."
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