Wellington, May 18 (BNA): New Zealand authorities said Thursday they expect to start removing bodies from the hostel in Wellington where at least six people were killed in a fire earlier this week.
A fire broke out on the upper floor of the Loafers Lodge in suburban Newtown in the early hours of Tuesday morning, causing significant structural damage that hampered entry efforts, Reuters reports.
Police said they suspected the fire was arson and had opened a murder investigation.
Inspector Dion Bennett, Acting Wellington Region Chief, said a reconnaissance team carried out an initial preparatory check of the building on Wednesday and were expected to be able to extract two bodies on Thursday and two more on Friday.
“Examination of the scene is expected to take several days,” Bennett said, adding that police do not know how many people died in the fire.
MI