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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — No less than six individuals had been killed after a hearth erupted in a single day Tuesday in a hostel in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins mentioned.
“It’s an absolute tragedy,” Mr. Hipkins informed reporters at Parliament on Tuesday. “It’s a horrific scenario.”
The reason for the hearth was nonetheless being investigated. There could be “quite a lot of investigations” into the catastrophe, the prime minister mentioned.
The hostel has no sprinklers, and the hearth alarm didn’t go off robotically, Brendan Neally, a hearth service spokesman, informed Radio New Zealand.
4 individuals had been hospitalized, one in critical situation, and 52 residents had been rescued, 5 from the roof of the four-story constructing.
The full variety of confirmed useless just isn’t but recognized as a result of the constructing continues to be not secure for cops or firefighters to enter, Inspector Dean Silvester, a police spokesman, mentioned in an announcement.
About 90 firefighters battled the blaze at its peak, and the hearth was put out about 6 a.m.
New Zealand’s social welfare company had used the hostel for emergency housing for its purchasers. Residents of the hostel, which offers low-cost short- and long-term lodging in 92 rooms, had been “pretty transient,” Inspector Silvester informed reporters.
The blaze was a “as soon as in a decade” occasion for town, mentioned Nick Pyatt, the hearth and emergency district supervisor for Wellington. “It’s the worst nightmare for us,” he added.
On Tuesday morning, firefighters had been nonetheless on the web site of the hearth, lower than a mile from the middle of town, and Adelaide Street — a busy arterial connection to town — was closed off.
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