At least eight people died in a fire at an illegal hostel in Latvia's capital Riga on Wednesday, according to police and local authorities. Nine people were injured and at least 24 people were evacuated from the building.

"The bodies are burned so badly that we cannot tell yet which country they are from. Their documents have gone up in flames," Latvia's deputy police chief Andrejs Grishins told reporters, adding that "lengthy" DNA tests will be used to identify the victims, who are believed to be mostly international tourists.

Riga's mayor Martins Stakis tweeted after visiting the scene of the blaze that the hostel where the fire broke out , located on the sixth floor of a state-owned building in the city's Merkela Street, was "illegal" and in fact due to be closed. 

Sandis Girgens, minister of interior affairs, said that firefighters had not been allowed inside the premises to perform routine safety checks since January.

Authorities had decided to shut down the hostel earlier this year but the decision had not yet been enforced.

_{Cover image: Gints Ivuskans/AFP}