Six people are confirmed dead and many more remain missing after a hostel went up in flames in New Zealand’s capital overnight.
The four-storey Loafers Lodge hostel in Wellington caught ablaze just after midnight.
About 20 remained missing on Tuesday morning (7.30am AEDT) from the 92-person capacity facility.
Privately, officials are bracing for many more fatalities, according to reports.
“This is a tragic event for all involved. My heartfelt condolences go to the loved ones of those who have lost their lives,” Fire and Emergency New Zealand district manager Nick Pyatt said.
“It doesn’t get worse than this.
“This is a once-in-a-decade fire for Wellington. It’s the worst nightmare for us.”
Some 52 people were taken out of the building after being notified of the inferno at 12.25am.
More than 10 fire vehicles responded to the emergency across the morning and the fire was put out after 6am.
NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the death toll was likely to rise.
“It’s a really concerning development and obviously our thoughts will be with all the firefighters involved and all the victims of the terrible tragedy that’s unfolding,” he said.
There were no vacancies in the accommodation complex, except for some rooms being treated for bedbugs, Radio NZ reported.
The hostel was reportedly used for transient housing.
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Loafers Lodge resident Chris Fincham told RNZ that the building’s fire alarms went off regularly, and were usually ignored. This time, none sounded, and he said he was was warned of the fire by someone shouting a warning.
“I heard a voice coming down the passageway saying ‘evacuate, evacuate, the place is on fire’ – and I didn’t think much of it because the fire alarms would go off two or three times a week and we’d just ignore it,” he said.
“But then when I heard this guy, or this person, screaming ‘there’s a fire, evacuate’, I sat there for about five minutes and then I put my shoes on, got my wallet together, and I thought maybe I should leave.”
Mr Fincham lived on the lodge’s second floor. He said there was no fire escape outside his window, and he used the main stairs to leave.
Another resident described jumping from a window to escape the blaze. Tala Sili said he landed on a roof, where he sprained his ankle.
Mr Sili, who said he had lived at Loafers Lodge for a year, said he could see heavy smoke but it was very dark.
“It smelt like poison,” he said.
He ould also feel the heat from flames despite not seeing any fire.
It was a scary night, he said.
Mr Sili lost everything in the fire.
New Zealand Police said in a statement the priority was determining how many people were staying at the lodge.
“Our initial assessment is that the number of deceased is fewer than 10. However, we are not in a position to be any more specific until we can access the building,” they said.
“It is currently unsafe and until we can access the building – and reconcile numbers of people who are safe – we are not in a position to determine how many people are deceased or unaccounted for.
“Our focus is on identifying those people as soon as we can.
“We are asking people to please come forward if they, or someone they know, has been staying at the property, so we can eliminate them from our inquiries.”
FENZ deputy national commander Brendon Nally has told New Zealand radio there were no sprinklers in the three-level hostel.
By 9.30am (NZ time), Mr Nally said authorities had a list of people they believe were in the building. There remained 20 unaccounted for.
