A hostel fire in New Zealand's capital has left multiple people dead in a "tragic event for all involved", authorities said.
Look back on our live blog for updates as they happened.
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By Shiloh Payne
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We'll bring you more information on the Wellington hostel fire as it comes to light with the story below.
Queensland premier extends condolences to fire victims
By Shiloh Payne
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has extended her condolences to those involved.
Resident recounts jumping out of window to safety
By Shiloh Payne
A resident of Loafers Lodge Tala Sili told Newshub that he had no option but to jump from a window on the fourth floor to escape the fire.
He said he couldn't make it through the hallway so he jumped from a window onto a nearby roof.
"The whole hallway was black with smoke. I was on the top floor and couldn't get through the hallway, there was just too much smoke — so I jumped out the window," he told Newshub.
"Outdoors there was a roof [on the second floor], so I was able to not get seriously injured. I just sprained my ankle on the roof, luckily the ambulance [crew] managed to get me off the roof with a ladder.
"The smoke was really dark and heavy, it smelled like poison… I couldn't see the flame but I could feel the heat.
"It was scary. I knew I had to jump out the window or burn inside the building. I've basically lost everything."
Here are some more photos from the scene
By Shiloh Payne
Relief fund set up for victims
By Shiloh Payne
Wellington's mayor Tory Whanau has set up a relief fund for the victims of the Loaders Lodge fire.
She said an event was cancelled and resources would be shifted towards relief for those affected.
Here's how the scene looked early this morning
By Shiloh Payne
Crews will assess the building in the next few hours
By Shiloh Payne
Emergency service crews will enter the building in the next few hours.
Loafers Lodge is currently being assessed by structural engineers.
Many remain unaccounted for
By Shiloh Payne
Many are still unaccounted for, as more deaths are feared after the blaze broke out south of the city centre.
Albanese says he spoke with New Zealand's PM this morning
By Shiloh Payne
Reporting by political reporter Jake Evans
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he spoke briefly with New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins about the fire this morning, as Mr Hipkins headed to the site.
"I spoke with Prime Minister Chris Hipkins this morning, he took my call as he was on his way to the site at Wellington, he confirmed a number of deaths have occurred in Wellington, and this is a dreadful human tragedy," Mr Albanese said.
"I expressed my condolences on behalf of Australia to our friends in New Zealand at this very difficult time, and offered any assistance of course, as always, will be available from Australia to New Zealand.
"He thanked me for the call and thanked Australia for once again being with New Zealand, as our Kiwi friends are always with Australia at times of tragedy."
Hostel housed people seeking shelter, fire authorities say
By Shiloh Payne
Brendan Nally from Fire and Emergency New Zealand says the building typically housed people seeking shelter from Wellington's cold overnight weather.
"Unfortunately we have a situation where there are multiple fatalities and we're still looking for a few people that we haven't got their locations nailed down," he says.
Authorities believe the beds at the hostel were full last night
By Shiloh Payne
Finance Minister Grant Robertson says he believes the beds at the hostel were full last night.
"There are a lot of people who are desperate to find out what's happened to their loved ones," Mr Robertson says.
" It is challenging in these situations to do that quickly."
Police are pulling together a master list of everyone they believe was in the building.
PM responds to reports the Loafers Lodge did not have sprinklers
By Shiloh Payne
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has confirmed that the building didn't have sprinklers but met local building regulations.
"We have regulations around health and safety for buildings because bad things can happen," Mr Hipkins says.
"It's important we regularly review those, as we always will, to make sure people have the level of assurance they deserve."
Chris Hipkins says fatalities remain less than 10
By Shiloh Payne
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is at the scene of the fire in Wellington.
He says there is no update on the number of fatalities at this stage, but emergency crews are yet to enter the building.
Wellington mayor describes ‘ghastly night’ of hostel fire in NZ's capital
By Shiloh Payne
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau says fire and emergency crew worked overnight to assess the damage to the hostel.
Residents recount escaping the blaze
By Shiloh Payne
TVNZ reporter Jessica Swan is speaking on News Channel, she says she spoke with a resident who escaped the fire.
"He was on the third floor and he said that it was quite a distressing event," she reports.
"He said there appeared to be two fires and that there was this thick, black smoke. People were yelling for help.
"I spoke to someone else who hadn't heard from their son and their son was staying in this accommodation. Obviously distressing."
She says the prime minister has just arrived at the scene.
This is what it looks like at the scene
By Shiloh Payne
The hostel homed lots of elderly people, council spokesman says
By Shiloh Payne
Richard MacLean from the Wellington City Council says the building was used for both long-term and short-term stays.
"It accommodates a kind of cross-section of the community, short-stay and long-stay people, and also, from what we're learning, quite a lot of elderly people as well," Mr MacLean says.
"The reason I say that is because the city council, we're opening a welfare centre this morning and we've got 50 people there who escaped the fire and a lot of them are elderly people."
Here are some photos from the scene
By Shiloh Payne
Nick James from Newstalk ZB has taken these photos from the scene of the fire:
Top floor 'literally engulfed in flames', mayor says
By Shiloh Payne
Tory Whanau, the mayor of Wellington, says the fire began on the top floor, which was "literally engulfed in flames".
"There's quite severe damage to that top floor," she says.
"There is a full investigation which will happen pretty immediately which will identify those issues."
Wellington mayor says there's a risk of the roof caving in
By Shiloh Payne
Wellington's mayor Tory Whanau is speaking on News Channel.
She says authorities are yet to access the building due to a risk of the roof caving in.
"What makes it tricky right now is that we don't know if the building is safe enough to go in yet," Ms Whanau says.
"There's a risk of the roof caving in. But that's exactly what they're assessing right now.
"And so we hope that our team can get back in there and just see how severe the situation really is."
