WELLINGTON: A 48-year-old man has been charged by New Zealand police with five counts of murder in connection with a deadly hostel fire.
According to the BBC, the accused had already been arrested and charged with arson after the fire in a lodge in Wellington last month.
On May 16, a four-storey emergency housing hostel in the capital, Loafers Lodge, caught fire and as a result, five people died.
The relatives of the victims had been informed of the charges, Wellington police told reporters on Thursday. They did not specify their charges in any way.
The deadly fire started on May 16, just after midnight local time. Police had said they considered the fire an act of arson shortly after opening a murder investigation.
According to authorities, five males between the ages of 50 and 67 were the victims.
The building housed at least 99 people on the night of the fire. Some had to crawl through the smoke to safety when it first started. Others gathered on the roof to wait for help.
Tala Sili, a lodger, said he leapt out of his window to escape the fire.
Wellington’s fire officials stated last month that they could not determine if the building’s smoke alarms had sounded due to contradictory reports from locals.
Due to sky-high real estate costs, rising rents, and a lack of government-subsidized housing, many New Zealanders have been forced out of the housing market.
During the epidemic, the country saw a sharp increase in the use of emergency housing. According to official statistics, more people are now choosing the temporary fix over the long term.
