A former Loafers Lodge resident who leapt from the burning building to save his own life says he was terrified of going up in flames.
Faamatala Sili also watched CCTV footage of the moment he jumped as it was shown to a jury at the High Court in Wellington.
He gave evidence during the trial of a 50-year-old man who has denied murdering those five people by setting Loafers Lodge alight just after midnight on May 16, 2023.
Sili said he was playing his Xbox in his room on the third floor. He heard stomping feet and breaking glass, but he thought it was drunk people and beer bottles.
Then he noticed smoke snaking underneath this bedroom door, which he opened.
"Just a huge black cloud came rushing into my room... I panicked."
He could not breathe, he said.
"I quickly climbed out my window and I took a few moments to gather up the courage, and then I just jumped onto the roof of the building next to my window."
Sili said he felt he had no other choice - he knew if he did not jump, he would die.
"I was just terrified of burning, of going up in flames."
Sili watched on as hazy video footage of his jump was shown to the jury. It showed him standing on the windowsill for some time before he leaped.
Those in the courtroom recoiled as they heard the loud thud of his landing.
Sili said he landed on the roof of the building next door and tried to stand up, but he was dizzy, his legs were shaking uncontrollably and one was gashed.
"So I just crawled along... and waited for someone to notice me, so I could call for help."
While he was on the roof, he heard an old man screaming for help. He did not know which floor the cries were coming from.
"He sounded like he was getting weak, and just really desperate for someone to save him," Sili said.
"When I heard that sound it just sounded terrifying to me, it was... a horrible sound."
Earlier on Wednesday, the court heard from another resident who escaped to the roof of Loafers Lodge.
Glen Cross said it "didn't feel real" - he was unsure if anyone knew he was on the roof, and did not think there was any way down.
"We're going to be okay?" he asked the man who answered his 111 call.
After he was rescued, he stood on the street surveying the flames and smoke pouring from the building he had escaped.
The residents were among around 100 Crown witnesses being called over the five-week trial.
The Crown said the defendant, whose name was suppressed, knew that lighting the fire was morally wrong and that people could die as a result.
Crown lawyers understood the man does not dispute that he lit the fire. The man's lawyers intended to use an insanity defence.
Survivor recounts escape
"We're going to be okay?" a former Loafers Lodge resident asked a 111 call-taker from the roof of the building where flames were beginning to appear during the fatal blaze.
The fire would go on to tear through the Wellington hostel and leave five people dead.
Glen Cross was giving evidence at the High Court in Wellington at the trial of a man who had denied murdering those five people by setting Loafers Lodge alight on May 16, 2023.
The Crown said the man deliberately lit the fire, knowing it was "morally wrong" and that people could die as a result.
Cross said alarms went off frequently in the building, often due to people smoking, but this time felt different.
When he heard someone yelling 'fire' he could tell by the tone of their voice something was seriously wrong.
"I went from being half asleep to wide awake," he said.
"As soon as I saw that wall of smoke I just held my breath and dropped to the ground."
He managed to climb up the stairs onto the roof, where he found his neighbour.
"We were both concerned at our predicament, we looked over the side and seen people down below, there were already flashing lights," he said.
They held their t-shirts over their mouths to keep the smoke out, and "tried to stay calm".
The court heard Cross' 111 call from the roof, where he and his friend had begun to see flames starting to lick through.
They were frightened, could not see any way down, and didn't know if people knew they were up there.
He did not know what that time it was: "there's no sense of time for me... I don't know how to describe it... it didn't feel real."
Cross told the call-taker what was happening, and the man replied that crews were there and working to get people out of the building.
"We're going to be okay?" Cross asked.
He and the others on the roof were okay - rescued by firefighters.
From the ground, Cross surveyed what he had escaped.
"Flames, you could hear the cracking, wood, glass, flames coming out... lots of smoke," he said.
"I was relieved to be on the ground, but sort of numb, I suppose. It was surreal, didn't feel like it was really happening."
On Tuesday the court heard testimony from another resident, Timothy Nevin, whose statement was read by Crown lawyer Grant Burston.
Nevin described his panic, fear and suffocation as he tried to escape the deadly blaze.
The residents are among around 100 Crown witnesses being called over the five-week trial.
