40 feared dead in California warehouse fire

OAKLAND: Fire crews in California worked into the night on Saturday sifting through the remains of a warehouse gutted by a blaze during a rave party, with officials saying they fear the death toll could reach 40.

Relatives of dozens of people missing in the Friday night blaze in Oakland near San Francisco continued their anxious wait for news. Twenty-four people are confirmed dead so far.

The rickety two-storey warehouse was used by artists as a living and work space but had no licence for this, officials said, nor for the electronic dance party under way when the blaze broke out. The cause was not yet known.

Firefighters said the building seemed to have no sprinklers or smoke detectors.

Orange flames shot through the roof as the fire burned for hours and thick smoke billowed into the sky. The roof collapsed onto the second floor, which officials said was connected to the ground floor only by a makeshift system of wooden pallets.

Firefighters had to pull out of the building to shore it up when part of the fragile structure and some of the walls began to move.

Sergeant Ray Kelly of the Alameda County Sheriff’s department told an evening news conference that about two dozen people who were reported missing had been located. But at least two dozen more remain missing, he said.

An official at his office, who declined to be named, said early yesterday the death toll could rise to 40 or even higher.

Most of those who died in the blaze that started about 11.30pm on Friday (3.30pm on Saturday in Malaysia) were thought to have died on the upper floor of the two-storey warehouse known as Oakland Ghost Ship, said Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed.

The electronic dance music party was attended by an estimated 50 to 100 people.

Some of the missing are from overseas, making identification of the victims – thought to be in their 20s and 30s – more difficult. – AFP