Eight People Dead in Papua New Guinea Airport Staff Housing Fire

Canberra (dpa) - Eight members of one family have died in a fire at an airport staff housing compound in Papua New Guinea (PNG), officials said.

The fire in the early hours of Tuesday engulfed three staff houses next to Tokua Airport in Rabaul, the former capital of East New Britain province, PNG's National Airports Corporation (NAC) said.

Police said a man whose family members died in the fire was a staff member at NAC, a government agency that owns and operates 22 airports across Papua New Guinea. He Survived the fire alongside his two young daughters.

Three people survived and are being treated for serious burns at the Nonga Base General Hospital, NAC said.

It said police and relevant agencies are carrying out investigations to determine the cause of the fire.

"It was a big fire that engulfed the whole house," Anton Billie, assistant police commissioner for the region, told local media, adding that it was too early to determine whether it was an accident.

The Tokua Airport remains open and operations will not be affected, NAC said.

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