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A fire ripped through a hostel in New Zealand’s capital overnight, killing at least six people and forcing others to flee the four-story building in their pajamas in what a fire chief on Tuesday called his “worst nightmare.”
Fifty-two people in the Loafers Lodge hostel in Wellington had been accounted for, but firefighters were still looking for others, said Wellington Fire and Emergency District Manager Nick Pyatt.
He said they were called to the hostel at about 12:30 a.m.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told the AM morning news program that he understood that six people were confirmed dead and the number of fatalities would likely rise.
Police said they did not have an exact count of the number of dead, although they believe the total number of fatalities was less than 10.
Hipkins said the building was not currently safe for police to enter and it could take authorities some time to confirm the number of dead.
“It is an absolute tragedy. It is a horrific situation,” the prime minister told reporters. “In the fullness of time, of course, there will be a number of investigations about what has happened and why it happened.
