HONOLULU
(Reuters) - Three people died in a fire that consumed three floors of a
36-storey condominium tower in Honolulu on Friday, city officials said.
At least
five others were injured in the blaze at the Marco Polo high-rise that send
thick black smoke pouring out over the city, a month to the day after a deadly
tower fire in London.
Firefighters
sprayed water onto the flames from nearby balconies and brought them under
control at about 6:30 p.m. local time (0430 GMT Saturday), fours hours after
the fire began, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell told reporters.
"We
were all trying to help as much as we could ... but there was a fire and you
could see it spreading," said 72-year-old resident, Karen Hastings, who
was in the building when the fire broke out.
The blaze
began on the 26th floor and quickly spread to the two floors above, the
Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper reported. There were no immediate reports on
what caused it.
Images
posted online showed orange flames raging on several floors and debris falling
from windows.
Fire Chief
Manuel Neves told reporters that the building did not have a sprinkler system.
Officers were conducting a room-by-room search, a task that could take several
hours, he said.
We don't
have any information for us to believe that there are problems with the
structure," Neves added.
The building
was constructed in 1971, before the city began requiring sprinkler systems, the
Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper said.
City
officials told the newspaper that if the building had had a sprinkler system,
the fire would have been contained to the original unit.
Emergency
responders said they took at least five people to hospital with injuries and a
number of others were treated at the scene.
Evacuees
were being accommodated at a nearby park, with volunteers tending them, the
Hawaii Red Cross said on social network Twitter.
The fire
forced the closure of a major road in front of the condominium complex, the
Honolulu police department said on Twitter.
In London,
at least 80 people were killed when a fire gutted the 24-story Grenfell Tower
apartments on June 14. That building also did not have a sprinkler system.
Reuters
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