A survivor of the deadly hostel fire in Wellington more than two years ago, begged emergency call takers for help over the phone, saying “I don’t want to die like this.”
Toetu Tui Saili phoned 111 as his room filled with smoke, repeatedly telling them he couldn’t breathe and had no way out.
Today, he gave evidence at the trial for a 50-year-old man charged with arson and murder at the High Court in Wellington.
The lawyers for the accused man, who has name suppression, were pursuing the defence of insanity.
Saili, a former Loafer Lodge resident, was clearly distressed in court while reliving his close call on the night of the fire.
After listening to much of the 111 recording, Justice Churchman who was presiding over the trial, arranged for the witness to wait outside for the remainder of the 30 minute call.
Unable to leave through his door that night, emergency call takers suggested he wait in his room, cover his mouth, and stay low.
He’s heard yelling and swearing, saying “f***, get me out of here”.
“I’m gonna die here,” he said. “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”
At one point he quietly speaks, “I’m dead”, to which those on the end of the line assured him he wasn’t and that help was coming.
He eventually escaped to the roof of Loafers Lodge, from where he was rescued.
In court today, Saili said he “got tired of waiting” for firefighters to find him.
The jury were shown photos of the burns he received while trying to get out.
‘It was such a close call’
The accused was said to have lit two fires that night – the first, under a couch.
The jury saw footage of residents putting that first blaze out, as well as CCTV footage of hallway conversations in the aftermath.
“Some c*** f***ing set the couch on fire somehow,” one said to two others.
“I came down to make a coffee, smelt something and looked over and the whole couch is just on fire, bro, it was such a close call, I was like, ‘what the f***?”
Another former resident, Raymound Lauder, evidence today and was asked about a conversation he had with one of the five men who died in the blaze, Kenneth Barnard.
It wa the last time he saw Barnard alive.
Lauder told the court: “He was a good friend of mine too, he’s another one that died.”
Barnard could be seen in a his-vis jacket in the video, and Lauder was heard asking him, “Did you see the fire?”
“I’ve seen the result,” Barnard answered.
Lauder goes on to say, “Some c*** is tryna kill us.”
Lauder’s reaction to the second blaze, lit 90 minutes after the first fire, was also captured on CCTV.
He was seen and heard running, yelling and swearing, banging on doors, and trying to work out where the smoke was coming from.
“I wanted to get upstairs and tell my mates but, at the same time, I had to guard my life,” he told the court.
Other survivors recounted their escape tales too, and the toll it took on them.
Hemi Lewis said: “I used to stay awake for long as I could, you know, six, seven days until I just hit the floor ’cause I didn’t want to have a nightmare of that fire.”
The trial enters it’s fifth day tomorrow.
