fire

The fire at ‘Eua High School broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Kaniva News reports a close family member of the deceased alleged the victim is thought to have been trapped in his house before he could be able to escape the fire.

He was rushed to hospital where he died, she said.

It is understood the victim went by the name of Kalisolaite ‘Eti on Facebook.

Viliami Tu’ihalamaka from Tonga Fire and Emergency Service in Tongatapu said he had received report from ‘Eua a man was injured in a house fire at the school and was taken to hospital.

Footage posted on social media showed flames spreading up the Torch Tower, and burning debris falling down.

Civil defence officials have "successfully evacuated" the building and are now working to bring the blaze under control, Dubai's authorities say.

It is not clear what caused the fire in one of the world's tallest buildings.

"No injuries have been reported so far in the Torch Tower fire incident," the government of Dubai's media office tweeted.

The Torch Tower was damaged by an earlier blaze in 2015.

At least 10 people were injured when the fire tore through closely-packed huts at the Grande-Synthe camp, near the port of Dunkirk.

Last month officials said the camp would be dismantled because of unrest.

The French north coast has been a magnet for migrants trying to reach Britain.

"There is nothing left but a heap of ashes," said Michel Lalande, prefect of France's Nord region.

"It will be impossible to put the huts back where they were before," he added.

All five lanes of the highway in each direction were blocked and will be closed for the foreseeable future, officials said.

Wednesday's blaze at the government-run Virgen de Asuncion shelter in San Jose Pinula, near Guatemala City, has focused attention on how it was run.

Police say some residents set fire to mattresses after a riot and an escape attempt.

There have been allegations of abuse at the overcrowded centre.

At least 40 other people suffered burns in the fire, and some remain in critical condition.

President Jimmy Morales declared the country to be in official mourning. His office said the cause of the fire was being investigated.

The victims have been transferred to local hospitals, although their conditions are not known, Hong Kong officials said.

A 60-year-old man has been arrested and accused of arson, Hong Kong police said at press conference Friday.

The man, whose last name is Cheung, was critically injured and told police he set the fire, authorities said.

Police said they believe the fire was an isolated incident carried out for personal reasons. There is no evidence it was terror-related, they said.

Deputy Fire Commissioner, Sinamoni Kauvaka said the young man was trying to save some sports materials from the building while it was blazing.

He was at the scene with two other teenagers between the ages 11-16.

The building had 3 rooms, which was the classroom for the Industrial studies and a store room where it had all the new sports equipment to be used this year.

The building was about 39 meters long and 22 meters wide.

Sinamoni said, the estimated cost for the damage is about TOP$300,000.

Kaniva News reports the fire destroyed the college’s industrial art building blocks.

The building was still standing but all contents were destroyed, an alumni said.

Firefighters arrived and battled the flames but it was too late.

A fire which broke out at the landfill on Christmas Day is now under control.

Kalisitiane Tukuafu of the Waste Management Authority says the fire was significantly contained on Monday thanks to the tireless efforts of emergency services and WAL.

Mr Tukuafu says they will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that such an incident will not re-occur.

The landfill was part of a $2.7 million pa'anga project, funded by the Australian Government, the Tongan Government and the Asian Development Bank and was handed over nearly two years ago on 13 January 2015.

The National Emergency Management Office (NEMO), His Majesty’s Armed Forces, Tonga Police, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and Private Sectors were called in to help fight the blaze, a government statement said.

Kaniva News reports the blaze reportedly broke out early Christmas morning at around 5:00-6:00am and the fire services responded at around 10:00am.

The fire as it was in this afternoon Monday 26 was still “uncontrolled”, according to Deputy Fire Commissioner, Mr Sinamoni Kauvaka.

An investigation was underway to determine the cause of the fire.