*This story first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission*
Six bodies have been located - but not recovered - after a major fire in a Wellington hostel overnight
The deadly blaze that broke out at a Wellington hostel overnight is feared to have claimed the lives of up to 10 people, with six deaths already confirmed.
Fire and Emergency was alerted at 12.25am to the fire at Loafers Lodge on Wellington's Adelaide Road on Monday night.
There were about 100 people inside when the fire broke out: 52 were taken out of the building and at least five were rescued from the roof, but 11 remained unaccounted for at about midday.
FENZ Assistant National Commander Bruce Stubbs said Tuesday evening that at this stage there were "six people inside" but they had been unable to search all of the building due to extensive damage.
Stubbs said there was a "significant amount of damage from the roof collapse but at this stage we have located six people".
"So we have treated them with respect and ensured that the evidence and the scene around them is made safe, but there is some instability in the roof structure. We've had our urban search and rescue technicians supporting our frontline firefighters to ensure that when we have people inside the building it is a safe place to be."
Bennett said police did not believe the fire was deliberately lit, but the cause would not be known until after the scene examination was completed.
Bennett asked people to not speculate on the cause, saying it was so far unexplained.
"We don't know what has caused the fire, hence the reason for the examination that is required now... this has been the early stages and as you can imagine, the priority has been to identify those people who were here last night and locate them."
Investigative teams from around the country had been brought in to assist.
Police expected to enter the building tomorrow morning, he said.
Police were yet to "fully reconcile" who was there and who was not.
"We urge anyone - family, friends or concerned people if you have information... to please phone the police 105 non-emergency number."
Chief Coroner Judge Anna Tutton could not say how long identification would take.
"Identification can be a painstaking, slow process, particularly when people are injured."
"I appreciate that this is an unimaginably terrible time for those who have lost someone they love.
"It has been reported to the coroner that deaths have occurred as a result of the fire. Legally, the bodies of the victims of this tragedy are in the custody of the coroner. But as you have heard it hasn't yet been possible to recover them from the scene.
"Once recovery of the victims is possible, they will be treated with dignity and respect and where known, specific cultural needs will be followed to the greatest extent possible."
The bodies would be kept at a mortuary until they could be safely reunited with their families, Tutton said.
Wellington district assistant fire commander Michael Dombroski said the fire quickly spread.
"Several occupants were rescued by firefighters and removed from the building."
Lodge resident Chris Fincham said fire alarms would go off regularly in the building but this time no alarm sounded.
"The only reason I knew it was actually happening was because there was someone running down the passageway saying 'evacuate, evacuate'."
Power has been restored to the immediate vicinity of the building.
According to the Loafers Lodge website, the building has 92 rooms, as well as lounges and kitchens for guests to use, and offers offers short-term and long-term accommodation.
Ambulances remained at the scene at 5am though there were fewer on site than at the peak of the fire. Twenty fire trucks were operating at the site, Fire and Emergency said.
Adelaide Road between John Street and the Basin Reserve was closed.
Wellington City Council said buses and other traffic between the central city and southern suburbs was likely was likely to be diverted for several hours.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins called the fatal early morning fire a "really tragic situation".
"It's a really concerning development and obviously, our thoughts will be with all of the firefighters involved, all of the victims of the terrible tragedy that's unfolding in Wellington this morning," he said on Breakfast this morning.
"There will, of course — as there always is — be opportunity to get to the bottom of what's happened and why it's happened but for now, I want to particularly acknowledge the firefighters who have been putting themselves in harm's way over the last however many hours in order to try and get people out of the building and to try and get the fire out."
Firefighters are still searching the hostel for casualties and an Urban Search and Rescue team is also involved.
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau told media she broke down while she was at the scene when she realised people had died and described it as a tragedy for the city.
One man has described jumping from the top floor as the building burned.
Tala Sili says he saw smoke coming under his door and opened it to find the hallway dark and black.
He decided then to jump out the window onto a roof two floors below.
"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.
"It was just scary, it was really scary, but I knew I had to jump out the window or just burn inside the building."
Sili says he was rescued from the roof by paramedics and treated for a sprained ankle.
Several others have been injured after after the fire broke out at Loafers Lodge on Adelaide Road in Newtown at about 12.25am.
Police said their initial assessment was that the number of deaths was fewer than 10, but they could not be any more specific at this point.
The building was unsafe, and until they could enter and reconcile numbers of people who were safe they were not in a position to determine how many people were deceased or unaccounted for.
Building passed inspection this year - Housing Minister
Housing Minister Megan Woods says officials told her the building passed an inspection as recently as early this year.
"My understanding is there were standalone fire, a standalone alarm system in there and the requirements were all being met and the building had been inspected as recently as early this year.
"The briefing I had this morning was in terms of the requirements of that building under the Building Act, that it was meeting all those requirements."
She says while it had been thought to be up to code, Wellington City Council is the regulator and MBIE is in close contact with them.
"MBIE are obviously talking to Wellington City Council, they are the people that carry out the inspections of buildings but as you can imagine MBIE has been thoroughly engaged with Wellington City Council this morning."
It is far too early to say whether any regulations needed to change, she says.
She says officials told her the building was not being used as emergency housing.
"This was not a facility that was being used for emergency housing, we weren't using it as a contracted facility and there wasn't anyone receiving an emergency housing special needs grant in there."
