Emergency services called to 92-room Loafers Lodge hostel just after midnight and a number of people remain unaccounted for
New Zealand was in shock on Tuesday after a “worst nightmare” fire at a hostel in the capital Wellington left at least six people dead and 11 others missing.
Fire and emergency incident controller Bruce Stubbs on Tuesday afternoon said that they had located the bodies of six people, but had not yet been able to retrieve them. He said parts of the building’s structure and much of its roof had collapsed, and emergency services had not been able to search the entire building. Eleven people remain unaccounted for.
Social service agencies including Wellington City Mission have said they had clients housed in the building, which advertises itself as providing affordable long- and short-term accommodationPhotograph: Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Imagesthe residents were a mix of people. “We’ve had doctors, nurses, unemployed people, meat workers, hospital staff. All sorts of people. A real variety of people … There’s a lot of full-time people. A lot have been there longer than I’ve been there,” Murphy said.
Speaking at parliament on Tuesday afternoon, Green party co-leader James Shaw said he was “very, very angry”. Hipkins said the hostel was “not currently being used in emergency accommodation … But my understanding is that there will be a number of Ministry of Social Development clients” – meaning people that were receiving welfare support for housing, sickness, disability, or unemployment.
“It doesn’t get worse than this. This is a once-in-a-decade fire for Wellington. It’s the worst nightmare for us.”
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