At least 6 people were killed in a hotel fire in New Zealand

toAt least six people were killed on Tuesday in a fire that broke out in a four-storey hotel housing workers and disadvantaged people in the New Zealand capital, Wellington.

Huge flames and thick smoke billowed throughout the night from Monday to Tuesday from the top floor of Loafers Lodge, a hotel in central Wellington.

Firefighters found six bodies inside the burning building. Emergency services said that after the building’s roof collapsed, they were unable to search all 92 rooms.

Police said a final assessment could only be made after the hotel had been fully combed after it was secured, possibly on Wednesday.

Six people were taken to hospital, one in critical condition, and 15 others were treated at the scene, according to emergency services.

More than fifty people were rescued.

Firefighters used a large ladder to evacuate residents trapped on the roof, some “from an area that was directly above the flames,” National Fire Service Deputy Chief Brendan Nally told Radio New Zealand (RNZ) and Auxiliary.

Mr Nally added that there were no fire extinguishers in the hostel and the fire alarm did not go off automatically.

Regional Fire and Rescue Director Bruce Stubbs described the cause of the fire as “suspicious.”

“Jumping out of the window”

Resident Tala Cele said smoke was billowing under his door before he decided to jump to the roof two floors below him.

“I was upstairs and couldn’t get through the corridor because there was a lot of smoke, so I had to jump out the window,” he told RNZ. “It was scary, really scary, but I knew I had to jump out the window or burn inside the building.”

Emergency services rescued him while he was on the roof.

Hemi Lewis (56 years old) still smells smoke as he tells how he managed to escape from the burning third floor.

He told reporters after taking refuge in a center designated for sheltering refugees, “I opened the door of my house and there was smoke everywhere. Flames were rising from the roof. I could not breathe. So I threw myself on the ground and crawled down.” Accommodating disaster victims.

The fifty-year-old man, who lived in this hotel for four months, lamented: “I don’t know what to do now. I’ve lost everything. I’ve lost everything. I’m wearing the same clothes.”

Emergency services estimate about 90 people were at the facility at the time of the fire. Several residents said the building’s smoke detector was going off so frequently that they doubted it was a real emergency.

“Practical and affordable”

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who praised the firefighters’ work, said: “It’s an absolute tragedy.”

He explained that many day and night workers were staying at the hotel, making it difficult to determine how many people were there at the time of the fire.

Mr Hipkins added: “We will have the opportunity to check whether this building complies with all the rules it has to follow.”

Loafers Lodge bills itself on its website as “comfortable and affordable accommodation”. It offers individual rooms as well as shared kitchens and living spaces.

The police, who announced the opening of an investigation, said that the cause of the fire remains “unclear” at the present time.

05/16/2023 09:51:27 – Wellington (AFP) – © 2023 AFP

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