WELLINGTON—An arsonist may have ignited the hostel blaze that killed at least six people in New Zealand’s capital, police said on Wednesday, as they opened a homicide investigation.
Smoke and flames engulfed the 92-room, four-storey Loafers Lodge in Wellington in the early hours of Tuesday, sending residents fleeing for their lives.
Some survivors crawled through smoke to safety, while others were rescued from the rooftop by firefighters using ladder trucks.
Those who died still lie in the charred building.
“I can confirm that we are treating the fire as arson,” police inspector and acting district commander Dion Bennett told reporters, declining to give the full reasons.
“It is being treated as a homicide investigation.”
Police have a list of people they want to speak to, he added, but no one has been arrested so far.
Firefighters found six bodies inside the hostel, but said they were unable to search everywhere because the roof had partially collapsed on the top floor.
Police have said the death toll may rise.
Two hours before the blaze broke out, a couch had caught fire inside the building without being reported to emergency services, police said earlier.
Investigators were looking into possible links between the two incidents, they said.
A police reconnaissance team entered the building on Wednesday for the first time since it was declared safe, to look for evidence and locate the dead.