It’s believed the blaze broke out on the Loafers’ Lodge in Newtown quickly after midnight native time (10pm AEST).
“It is a truly tragic situation, the worst outcome,” Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau mentioned.
“While we have six that have passed, it will be in excess of that.”
She mentioned the demise toll would turn out to be clear within the coming hours, after the constructing was deemed protected for firefighters to go looking.
“There’s a risk of the roof caving in and, of course, we need to make sure that our firefighters are protected as well,” Whanau mentioned.
“That information will certainly become more clear over the next few hours.”
Whanau mentioned a mayoral reduction fund had been set as much as help each the survivors who had misplaced their houses and lodging, in addition to the households of those that died.
“When I found out about the severity of this, this morning, I broke into tears myself, because we don’t want that for anyone, especially those who are already struggling,” she mentioned.
One resident spoke of his terror on realising the blaze had taken maintain.
“It was scary, you know — being, you know, first time I’ve been in a house fire, especially on the third floor, because you think, ‘how am I going to get down’,” he mentioned.
Inspector Dean Silvester of Wellington police beforehand mentioned he understood the demise toll stood at fewer than 10, however was reluctant to present a concrete quantity.
Many of the residents are shift employees, making it more durable to trace who was within the constructing on the time of the blaze.
One resident mentioned there appeared to have been two fires when he fled the constructing.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has acknowledged first responders desperately attempting to save lots of these inside
“Firefighters … 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,” he mentioned.
Hipkins mentioned he had beforehand been informed not less than six folks had died within the hearth, however he understood the ultimate toll may very well be larger.
About 20 folks have been reported to be injured.
Authorities are actually investigating if the hearth had been intentionally lit.
It’s believed as much as 90 folks have been contained in the constructing when the hearth broke out, with 19 folks nonetheless unaccounted for.
Five persons are in hospital, with one in a critical situation, whereas others have been handled on the scene.
One witness has informed 9News residents within the constructing included shift employees equivalent to nurses, medical doctors, hospital workers and meat employees.
People in Wellington are urged to keep away from the scene and put on a masks at this time if they’re within the space, resulting from asbestos fears.
Source: www.9news.com.au
