Death and devastation: Grisly task of searching for fire victims begins
The resumption of the search and rescue effort and the hunt for missing persons could see the death toll from New Zealand’s Loafer Lodge hostel fire rise.
An exterior view of the Loafers Lodge after a fatal hostel fire in Wellington, NZ, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Multiple people are believed to be dead after a "worst nightmare" fire at a 92-room hostel in New Zealand. (AAP Image/Masanori Udagawa)
The 92-room Wellington accommodation facility caught fire in the early hours of Tuesday, prompting a frenzied evacuation.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) said six bodies were located in the building, with the possibility of more to be found when conditions allow.
Since the fire was doused, six hours after it began, technical teams have been working to secure the building for the bodies to be recovered and for the police to begin an investigation.
“We are working tirelessly alongside our partners, alongside our other agencies to find the answers that we need,” acting district commander Dion Bennett said.
“This requires an extensive scene examination and as you can see the building is large and the damage is extensive.
“Once inside, we will work as quickly as we can.”
Police hope to gain the all-clear to enter late on Wednesday morning.
Alongside the effort to access the four-storey building are six police personnel working to reconcile a list of residents and people inside the building at the time of the blaze.
There are a number of people still unaccounted for, though officials have been coy on just how many.
The Loafers Lodge had a mix of short-term and longer stay occupants, including shift workers from the nearby Wellington Hospital, welfare recipients and those under corrections orders.
Corrections Department spokeswoman Brittany McNamara said nine people on a community sentence order were living at the hostel, with two still unaccounted for.
The disaster is NZ’s deadliest building fire since 1995, when a deliberately-lit fire inside the New Empire Hotel in Hamilton killed six people including one who jumped from the building.
Should officials confirm two more deaths, it will be the country’s worst since 1947 when 41 people died in the Ballantynes department store in Christchurch.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese offered Australian assistance in the recovery effort, though it is not yet clear whether that will be taken up by Kiwi officials.
Australia experienced a similar tragedy in Childers, Queensland, where 15 people – most of whom were foreign travellers – died in the burning of the Palace Backpackers Hostel in 2000.
