Authorities fear up to 40 people may have died after a massive fire broke out during a late-night party in a warehouse that housed artist studios in Oakland, California.
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Nine people were initially confirmed dead, but a full search was delayed after the building's roof collapsed and dozens remained missing.
Officials said 50 or more people had been inside.
The county coroner's office said it was preparing for up to 40 bodies, and a police spokesman said the victim count could well rise that high.
"That wouldn't be too far off based on what I'm hearing. It is a lot of casualties at this point," Ray Kelly, the spokesman, told KTVU news.
Bob Mule, an artist who lives at the warehouse, said he was downstairs about to start painting when he smelled burning.
He said the building was quickly consumed with smoke, and that an artist in the cubicle next to him began shouting for help.
"It was too hot, too much smoke, I couldn't see him. I had to get out of there," he said. "I hope he's OK.
"I literally felt my skin peeling and my lungs being suffocated by smoke. I couldn't get the fire extinguisher to work," Mr Mule told the East Bay Times.
Al Garcia, who owns a store across the street from the scene, said he found two teenagers who escaped the fire crying in the doorway, one of whom recounted the horrific experience.
"He told me the smoke overran them as they were coming down, and he told me there was people behind them and that no one came out behind them.
“And that's why they were crying, they knew there were people still in there," he told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Cause of fire a mystery
The blaze started at about 11.30pm on Friday (local time) in the two-story warehouse in the city's Fruitvale district, a mostly Latino area that is also home to many working artists living and working in converted warehouse lofts.
Fire officials have not yet determined how the fire started or an exact number of fatalities in the blaze, said Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed, who called it the worst single-structure fire she had seen in her career.
Most of those found dead were on the second floor, where the concert apparently took place.
The structure had only a single point of entry or exit from the second floor, and the first and second floors were linked by a "makeshift staircase" constructed of wooden pallets.
"It must have been a really fast-moving fire," she said.
"I don't know where the fire started, but I do know that the way the building was situated made it difficult for people to escape.
"It was filled end to end with furniture, whatnot, collections. It was like a maze almost."
Ms Reed said she could not comment on how the blaze might have started.
A witness said people inside had been smoking, and that there were many books as well as wooden furniture.
There was no evidence of any smoke detectors in the building.
An arson team has joined the investigation, although there is no immediate evidence that the fire was deliberating lit, she said.
Some of those who were missing may have brought themselves to the hospital or elsewhere, Ms Reed said, adding she did not know how many people were at the party or how many lived on the premises.
At an Alameda County Sheriff's Office station not far from the fire, about a dozen people were waiting on Saturday for updates from authorities.
"I don't have high hopes," said a woman who had four friends among the missing, declining to give her name. She did not herself attend the dance party, but described herself as shocked and devastated.
"We've just spent night calling hospitals and listening to police scanners."
A Facebook event page showed 176 people planned to attend the party, which featured a performance by the electronic music act Golden Donna.
Parents and others shared contact information on the page and asked anyone with information about missing children and friends to call: "ANY information please!" wrote a woman looking for her son.
Video footage posted on social media showed the structure engulfed in flames and encircled by fire vehicles pumping water into the building.
The deadliest nightclub fire in the US in recent decades came in Rhode Island in 2003 when 100 people lost their lives.
It was caused by pyrotechnic effects by the rock band Great White.
- The Telegraph, London with Reuters
The story, Fears up to 40 dead in California warehouse dance party fire, first appeared on the Sydney Morning Herald.
