Somali National News Agency
So
Ar
Search
  • Home
  • Local News
    Local NewsShow More
    Somalia’s Disaster Management Agency and NGOs to Unify Humanitarian Aid Efforts
    August 29, 2025
    Somali Ambassador Emphasizes Importance of National Voice at UN
    August 29, 2025
    Somali Government Re-evaluates Development Projects in Nairobi Meeting
    August 29, 2025
    Minister of Ports and Maritime Transport Oversees Leadership Transition at Mogadishu Port
    August 29, 2025
    African Union Commission Welcomes Somalia’s Revised Electoral Framework Agreement
    August 29, 2025
  • World News
    World NewsShow More
    Hamas accepts an Arab ceasefire proposal on Gaza as Palestinian death toll passes 62,000
    August 19, 2025
    “Gunman Kills 3 in Texas; Explosion in Pennsylvania Leaves 2 Dead”
    August 12, 2025
    Somali-American Candidate Abdirizak Mohamed Ali Runs for Mayor of Hopkins, Minnesota
    August 8, 2025
    Israel kills aid worker in Gaza amid rising starvation deaths, US envoy meets with hostages’ families
    August 3, 2025
    Ghana Donates 40 Metric Tonnes of Cocoa to Palestine in Act of Solidarity
    August 2, 2025
  • Articles
    ArticlesShow More
    Somalia’s Political Leaders Forge a Path to Democracy
    August 25, 2025
    Ode to Yan’an: How a Song Inspired Chinese Youth During Wartime
    August 19, 2025
    Somalia’s Story Is More Than the Siege Narrative. It’s Time the World Reported It That Way
    August 13, 2025
    Somali and Allied Forces Deal Major Blow to Al-Shabaab in Coordinated Offensive
    August 6, 2025
    Somalia’s Financial War Against Al-Shabaab: Key Achievements and Strategic Milestones (2022–2025)
    August 4, 2025
  • Business
    BusinessShow More
    Somalia Unveils the Blueprint for a Modern and Sustainable Mogadishu
    December 21, 2024
    Djibouti Launches $57.4 Million Youth Entrepreneurship Project to Combat Climate Change
    November 25, 2024
    FM meets Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia
    October 28, 2024
    President Hassan Sheikh Inaugurates New LPG Storage Center in Mogadishu
    May 12, 2024
    Collaboration of ICT transformation for digital Infrastructure
    October 24, 2023
  • Sports
    SportsShow More
    Mogadishu Stadium to Host Star-Studded Match Featuring Somali Legends and International Football Icons
    May 27, 2025
    Arsenal held at Brighton while Man City bounce-back continues
    January 5, 2025
    Galmudug wins the Inter-State Football Tournament
    January 29, 2024
    Somalia set for two int’l friendlies ahead of WC qualifier clashes against Algeria and Uganda
    October 10, 2023
    Chicago woman, 104, skydives from plane, aiming for record as the world’s oldest skydiver
    October 3, 2023
  • Tenders
    TendersShow More
Reading: Fire at New Zealand hostel kills at least 6 people, prime minister says
Share
Font ResizerAa
Somali National News AgencySomali National News Agency
  • SOMALI
  • ARABIC
Search
  • Home
  • Local News
  • World News
  • Articles
  • Business
  • Sports
  • Tenders
Follow US
©2023 || All rights reserved SONNA
Somali National News Agency > Blog > World News > Fire at New Zealand hostel kills at least 6 people, prime minister says
World News

Fire at New Zealand hostel kills at least 6 people, prime minister says

By Khadar Aweys
Last updated: May 16, 2023
3 Min Read
Share

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (SONNA) — A fire ripped through a hostel in New Zealand’s capital overnight, killing at least six people and forcing others to flee the four-story building in their pajamas in what a fire chief on Tuesday called his “worst nightmare.”

Fifty-two people had made it out of the building but firefighters were still trying to account for others, Wellington fire chief Nick Pyatt said.

Loafers Lodge resident Tala Sili told news outlet RNZ that he saw smoke pouring through under his door and opened it find the hallway pitch black.

“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,” Sili said.

He said he fell onto a roof two floors below.

“It was just scary, it was really scary, but I knew I had to jump out the window or just burn inside the building,” Sili told RNZ.

He said he was rescued from the roof by paramedics and treated for a sprained ankle.

The Loafers Lodge offered basic, affordable rooms with shared lounges, kitchens and laundry facilities to people of a wide range of ages. Some were placed there by government agencies and were considered vulnerable because they had little in the way of resources or support networks.

The hostel is in an industrial area and features billboards on one side. Dark smoke stains extended up the exterior walls on the top story of the building.

Pyatt said firefighters were called to the hostel at about 12:30 a.m. Emergency officials said the building had no fire sprinklers, which Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said was not required in New Zealand’s building code for older buildings that would have to be retrofitted.

Police said the cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Residents told reporters that fire alarms would regularly sound in the building, possibly from people smoking or overly sensitive smoke monitors, so many had initially thought it was another false alarm.

Hipkins said the building was not currently safe for police to enter and it could take authorities some time to confirm the number of dead. He told the AM morning news program that he understood six people were dead and the number of fatalities would likely rise. Police said they did not have an exact count, although they believed the death toll was less than 10.

Source: AP
Share This Article
Facebook Whatsapp Whatsapp Email Copy Link Print

MORE NEWS

Ode to Yan’an: How a Song Inspired Chinese Youth During Wartime

ArticlesCulture
August 19, 2025

Kenya’s small farmers find respite in avocados amid changing climate

NAIROBI(SONNA) As crop diseases and pests rise in Kenya amid a rapidly changing climate that…

March 11, 2023

Somalia’s Disaster Management Agency and NGOs to Unify Humanitarian Aid Efforts

Mogadishu, Somalia – A meeting between the Somali Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA) and the Somalia…

August 29, 2025

Nimcaan Hilaac appointed to lead Waberi National Band

Mogadishu (SONNA)-Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E. Mohamed…

March 3, 2020

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

US renews its call for dialogue with North Korea

ANKARA:-The US on Tuesday renewed its call for dialogue with North Korea and said Washington has no hostile intent toward…

World News
September 14, 2021

Qatar condemns ‘double standards’ at ICJ hearing on Israeli occupation

Qatar tells the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it rejects the “double standards” when international law applies to some…

World News
February 24, 2024

State Minister for Foreign Affairs receives Swedish Ambassador

Mogadishu(SONNA)- The State Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, H.E. Mr. Abdulkadir Ahmed-kheir Abdi, received today at his office…

Local NewsNewsPoliticsWorld News
November 20, 2019

President Farmajo welcomes vote of no confidence passed by Parliament

Mogadishu (SONNA):President of the Federal Republic of Somalia H.E Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has today accepted the vote of no confidence…

Local NewsNewsWorld News
July 25, 2020

Somali National News Agency established in 1964. It is one of the main pillars of the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism.

  • Home
  • Local News
  • World News
  • Articles
  • Business
  • Sports
  • Tenders
  • SNTV
  • RADIO MOGADISHU
  • DALKA JOURNAL
  • TOURISM DEPARTMENT

Follow US: 

  • MoICT
  • VILLA SOMALIA
  • OPM SOMALIA

All rights reserved SONNA

©2023

Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?