At least 3 dead after fire breaks out at Honolulu high-rise building

HONOLULU (REUTERS/AFP) - Three people were killed on Friday (july 14) in a fire that consumed three floors of a 36-storey condominium tower in Honolulu, city officials said.

The fire at the Marco Polo high-rise building near Waikiki was brought under control at about 6.30 pm local time, four hours after the blaze began, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said during a news conference.

"We have a very tragic situation with three confirmed fatalities," Caldwell said. "The good news is that the fire is now under control."

For hours, thick black smoke poured from the building as orange flames raged on several floors and debris fell from windows in images broadcast by bystanders on the Periscope streaming service.

More than 100 firefighters battled the blaze, spraying water on flames from nearby balconies as a helicopter circled above, images posted online showed.

The fire began on the 26th floor of the building at about 2.15 pm, and quickly spread to the two floors above, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper said. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

As many as three people died on the 26th floor, Fire Chief Manuel Neves told a news conference at the scene, but he did not provide details of the deaths.

"We don't have any information for us to believe that there are problems with the structure," Neves said, adding that fire officials were conducting a room-by-room search, a task that could take several hours.

A woman and her adult son were among the victims, who all died on the 26th floor, the Honolulu Star Advertiser said.

At least 12 residents and one firefighter were injured, according to the newspaper. The firefighter and three others were taken to hospital in serious condition.

Evacuees from the building, which has 568 units, 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.

The Marco Polo building does not have a sprinkler system, Neves said. The building was constructed in 1971, before the city began requiring sprinkler systems and mandating them for high-rises built after 1974, the Star-Advertiser newspaper said. City officials told the newspaper that if the building had a sprinkler system, the fire would have been contained to the original unit.

One resident who declined to give his name said he made it to safety after climbing the stairs from the 29th floor, The Guardian reported. The man said there was so much smoke he could hardly see.

Some residents complained about how long it took fire crews to reach the building and evacuate it.

Troy Yasuda, who lives in a building across the street, was giving water to people who evacuated.

"They were choking from the smoke," he was quoted by The Guardian as saying. He added that people told him they evacuated through dark stairwells.

"It's been an orderly evacuation," security guard Leonard Rosa was cited by The Guardian as saying.

In London, at least 80 people were killed on June 14 when a fire gutted the 24-storey Grenfell Tower apartments.

The authorities have opened two major investigations into the blaze, the worst in the British capital since World War II, and have said criminal charges could be forthcoming.