New Zealand hostel fire: at least six dead and 11 missing in Wellington blaze

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At least six people are dead and 11 others missing after a “worst nightmare” fire at a 92-room hostel in New Zealand.

The Loafers Lodge hostel in Newtown, in Wellington’s south, caught alight just after midnight on Tuesday, prompting an evacuation.

The prime minister, Chris Hipkins, who visited the scene on Tuesday morning, said at least six people had died. “I understand six confirmed previously and it looks like there are likely to be more.”

Police said on Tuesday morning: “Our initial assessment is that the number of deceased is fewer than 10, however, we are not in a position to be any more specific until we can access the building.”

Fire and Emergency New Zealand confirmed 11 people were unaccounted for and that parts of the hostel had collapsed.

The hostel has previously been contracted as an emergency housing provider in New Zealand, and where the housing crisis means a growing number of homeless people are housed long-term by the government in motels and hostels. It was named by the Ministry of Social Development in a list of emergency housing providers released in 2021.

Social service agencies including Wellington City Mission have said they had clients housed in the building, which advertises itself as providing affordable long- and short-term accommodation.

Marie Murphy, the hostel’s property manager, told Stuff the residents were a mix of people. “We’ve had doctors, nurses, unemployed people, meat workers, hospital staff. All sorts of people. A real variety of people … There’s a lot of full-time people. A lot have been there longer than I’ve been there,” Murphy said.

A local health service said a number of its staff had resided at the hostel, but weren’t able to confirm how many were in the building at the time of the fire.

Hipkins said the hostel was “not currently being used in emergency accommodation … But my understanding is that there will be a number of Ministry of Social Development clients.”

The city missioner, Murray Edridge, told local media outlet Stuff that many vulnerable people who were under the organisation’s care had registered the lodge as their address.

“A significant proportion of residents of the lodge are under our care. This is an absolute disaster. These are people who are inherently vulnerable anyway. It’s a tragedy for our community.”

Fire and Emergency said sprinklers were not fitted to the building. New Zealand’s building code does not require the retrofitting of sprinkler systems into existing older buildings.

One resident of the building told RNZ that fire alarms would go off regularly in the building and were often ignored.

Another man staying at the hostel described crawling out through a smoke-filled hallway to escape.

“For me, it was hard, just that little distance, it was a struggle. You’ve got people in there like 80, 90, who aren’t able to look after themselves, especially in a fire, they will struggle,” he told RNZ.

Authorities said 52 people were taken out of the building after being notified of the blaze at 12.25am.

More than 10 fire vehicles responded to the emergency across the morning and the fire was put out after 6am.

Hipkins offered his condolences to those who had died and their families. “New Zealanders have woken up this morning to that tragic news of the events that have been unfolding in the Wellington as a result of the fire.”

More than 3,300 households across New Zealand currently live in emergency housing – typically motels – the ministry for social development said in February, including more than 3,000 children. Another 29,000 people who needed public housing were still on waiting lists.