Fire At New Zealand Hostel kills Atleast Six People

Authorities in New Zealand are still trying to determine how many people died in a blaze that tore through a hostel in the capital, Wellington, overnight, killing at least six.

Fire crews were called to Loafers Lodge hostel in the city centre just after midnight local time and found the top floor of the four-story building well alight, according to a statement from Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

As firefighters fought the blaze, 52 people were evacuated, but it’s unclear how many people were inside at the time. Late Monday, Urban Search and Rescue Squad members were still determining whether the building was safe to search.

It’s not clear what caused the fire.

Tala Sili, who was staying in the hostel, told CNN affiliate Radio NZ the experience was “really scary.”

He said “he saw smoke coming under his door on the top floor of the hostel, and he jumped two floors onto the roof of a nearby building, where he was ultimately rescued by paramedics and treated for a sprained ankle.”

Local politician Paul Eagle told RNZ that the transient nature of many of the building’s residents was making it hard for authorities to determine who may have been inside the building during the blaze.

“It’s not unusual that they won’t know exactly who’s there right at that moment because people can come and go all the time,” the Rongotai MP told RNZ. “It’s a simple place. There’s a roof over their heads, simple lodging”

According to the Loafers Lodge website, the hostel offers 92 rooms with common areas, kitchens, and laundry facilities within walking distance of Wellington Hospital in Newtown.

Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson told reporters that many residents had “lost absolutely everything that they had.”

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visited the site on Tuesday and expressed his sympathy for the victims and their loved ones.

“We’ve not seen an event of this scale for quite some time,” he said.

CNN/Shakirat Sadiq