Fire leaves Niue without power, facing water shortage

Niueans have been told to stay home and conserve water after a blaze at the South Pacific nation's only power station last night left the island without electricity.

A spokesman from Niue Broadcasting Corporation said people were particularly concerned about water supply as the pumps were electric.

"The water is actually being pumped up by power and because there is no power we are only going by whatever's in the reservoirs at the moment," he told National Radio.

He said he was not sure how long that would last, but probably for another day or so.

Engineers were looking at ways to get the pumps going without the main generator.

"They are looking at other alternatives at the moment. They've got portable generators they can take around the villages to pump the water out."

Emergency generators were being used to provide power to essential services like the island's only hospital.

"The whole island is affected by this. There is no power except for essential services such as Broadcasting House, the airport, and Telecom who have their own generators."

The National Disaster Council was meeting this morning to discuss the next move which may involve calling on New Zealand for help.

Niue has been self-governing in association with New Zealand since 1974.

- NZPA