A giant fire is burning from the top of the SkyCity Convention Centre, which is still under construction in downtown Auckland. Thick black smoke billowing from the building can be seen across the city. CLICK HERE TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE NZ HERALD'S LIVE COVERAGE Photo / NZH Sky city convention centre on fire in downtown #auckland pic.twitter.com/ItymJrqm05— Adrian (@Adrian46229122) October 22, 2019 Flames pouring out of the convention centre ceiling pic.twitter.com/ySvDEqQCG0— Guy Heveldt (@GuyHeveldt) October 22, 2019 Jeepers. This is awful. pic.twitter.com/KEQnBwk57D— Melanie Homer (@melhomer) October 22, 2019 Firefighters have come off the roof. A sudden flare up that's burning quite strong at the moment. pic.twitter.com/BCt0GJaf7O— Phil Goff (@phil_goff) October 22, 2019 Auckland Mayor Phil Goff is reporting what he can see live on his official Twitter page. "Fire is really building. People can be seen on the roof,'' he wrote. ❗️UPDATE 1: Fire in Auckland CBDFire and Emergency are currently attending a fire in the Auckland CBD.We received multiple calls at 1:10pm today to reports of flames at the New Zealand International Convention Centre.People are advised to stay out of the CBD area.— Fire and Emergency New Zealand (@FireEmergencyNZ) October 22, 2019 Hundreds of people phoned 111 as flames could be seen leaping from the building top at about 1.15pm. The SkyCity Convention Centre The $700m project is well underway and is due to hold its first conference in October next year. Site: 1.4ha Floor space: 32,500sq m Equivalent to 4 rugby fields 33 meeting spaces of various sizes 5 times larger than existing NZ convention space Able to host events for up to 4000-plus people NZ's largest theatre, able to seat 2850 people NZICC designed by Warren and Mahoney, Woods Bagot, Moller Architects 303-room 12-level Horizon Hotel by Warren and Mahoney, Moller Architects This article was first published on the NZ Herald and is republished here with permission.