flame

The report said Anduril had tried to put out the flames with its own vehicle, but three trucks from the local fire department had to be brought in to extinguish the fire.

He rushed home from work to find the 31-storey building in flames, with black smoke billowing out of it.

More than a thousand other people were forced to evacuate the estate as the flames spread, with some heading to centres that have been set up to house them.

The helitanker lease, costing slightly less than $1 million, would support aerial attacks of flames that are difficult for crews on the ground to reach.

The cause of the fire is unknown, but the flames are believed to have spread quickly through bamboo scaffolding that covered the outside of the tower blocks.