Hatem said the fire started in the rangehood of the oven they used at the store. Ibrahim Hatem, 60, is taken to hospital after a harrowing effort to put out the flames at the family business he helped start more than 20 years ago in Pakūranga. Reynolds-Hatem said his father and uncles started the business after they arrived from Syria more than two decades ago. Members of the Hatem family comfort each other after the family business in Pakūranga, East Auckland, is destroyed by fire, with co-owner Ibrahim Hatem (inset) being taken away to hospital after having a medical turn. “As soon as the strike finished, they jumped in their trucks and raced straight over to the fire,” he said.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 13, 2026 16:40 UTC