Higher death toll feared from US dance party

The blaze started late on Friday night in the two-storey warehouse in Oakland's Fruitvale district. Photo: Reuters
The blaze started late on Friday night in the two-storey warehouse in Oakland's Fruitvale district. Photo: Reuters

A fire at a dance party in a loft building in the United States has killed at least nine people and left at least 25 missing, authorities say.

It's feared the death toll could climb once recovery teams entered the burnt-out warehouse in Oakland, California.

The blaze started about 11.30pm on Friday (local time) in the two-storey warehouse in the city's Fruitvale district, a mostly Latino area that is also home to many artists living and working in converted lofts.

Fire officials have not yet determined how the fire started or an exact number of deaths, said Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed, who called it the worst single-structure fire she had seen in her career.

Still, authorities were preparing to deal with "several dozen fatalities," said Sergeant Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, who said the recovery operation began on Saturday afternoon.

"The roof has collapsed down onto the second floor, so we have to literally go in there piece by piece and move wood and timbers and debris in order to even get an assessment," he said.

Authorities say they don't know how many people were at the party, or how many lived on the premises. Photo: Reuters
Authorities say they don't know how many people were at the party, or how many lived on the premises. Photo: Reuters

Authorities said they did not suspect arson, but investigators want to find out if the building, which was partitioned into artists' studios, had a history of building code violations. Many of the victims were young people in their 20s or 30s.

"It's just so hard to accept that some really wonderful people's lives got cut short," said Jenny Yang (34), an artist and activist who was waiting for news of missing friends at Eli's, an Oakland bar that opened early as a gathering spot.

Video footage posted on social media showed flames shooting from the structure, which was adorned with elaborate graffiti and colorful murals, as fire vehicles pumped plumes of water and heavy smoke engulfed the neighborhood.

The roof of the warehouse collapsed during the fire, delaying efforts to recover bodies and investigate the blaze for more than 12 hours after the fire began.

"There is a large majority of that building that has not been searched," Reed said, pointing out that some of the 25 missing people may be among the nine confirmed victims.

"We are hoping that the number nine is what there is and that there are no more," the fire chief said, referring to the number of known fatalities.

Authorities have said they did not know how many people were at the party, or how many lived on the premises.