At least six killed in New Zealand hostel fire
A fire ripped through a four-storey hostel in New Zealand's capital in the early hours of Tuesday, killing at least six people as others fled for their lives, with some plucked from the roof. Towering flames and thick smoke could be seen pouring from the top-floor windows of the Loafers Lodge hostel in central Wellington during the night, as 80 firefighters and 20 trucks battled the blaze. Emergency services said multiple people had died in the 92-room hostel and 52 people had been rescued. Firefighters used a ladder truck to save people trapped on the roof, said Fire and Emergency deputy national commander Brendan Nally. "They plucked quite a few people off the top of the roof from an area directly above the fire," Nally told local media. "There was no other way. Those people were going to perish, except for the intervention of our team. Multiple people are walking around because of it. "There were no sprinklers in the hostel, Nally said. Eleven people remained unaccounted for but that number was expected to fall "a little", he said. One of the hostel residents, Tala Sili, said smoke rushed in under his door before he decided to jump to a roof two floors below.  "I was on the top floor and I couldn't go through the hallway because there was just too much smoke, so I jumped out the window," he told Radio New Zealand. "It was just scary, it was really scary, but I knew I had to jump out the window or just burn inside the building." The country's Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, described the fire as "an absolute tragedy".  Asked about the number of dead, Hipkins said: "I understand six confirmed previously, but it looks like there are likely to be more."  The final toll would not be known until emergency services had recovered the remains of those killed, he added. (AFP)