4 dead, 10 injured as fire breaks out at Lucknow hotel; Adityanath orders probe

Four people including two women died and at least 10 were injured after a fire broke out in a fourfloor hotel in the citys commercial centre Hazratganj Monday morning police saidRescue teams were inspecting the premises of the Levana Suites on Madan Mohan Malviya Marg in Hazratganj to check if someone had been trapped officials said Initially 10 people were rushed to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee civil hospital Of these two were declared dead and seven are undergoing treatment One of the injured was released they saidOfficials said two more people were later rushed to the civil hospital and were declared dead taking the toll to fourTwo more people who were found in a serious condition during room to room search of the hotel were rushed to the civil hospital They were declared brought dead by doctors Joint Commissioner of Police Law and Order Piyush Mordia told PTIUttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited the injured in the hospital and enquired about their health He also ordered a joint probe by theCommissioner Lucknow division and police commissioner of Lucknow into the incidentHe directed officials to provide free and appropriate treatment to the injuredThe fire which led to panic in the area broke out at about 7 am eyewitnesses said after which the entire hotel was engulfed in flames and smokeAlso readDelhi Massive fire near Chandni Chowk metro stationCrowds gathered as evacuation efforts got underway Fire teams had a tough time dousing the flames after breaking glass panesThe rescue teams also used bulldozers to break a wall on the first floor to help in the fire fighting Both NDRF and SDRF teams were also pressed for the rescue operationFire teams are on the job and many people were taken out of the hotel and have been rushed to the hospital District Magistrate Suryapal Gangwar told reportersAccording to the hotel owner there are 30 rooms in the building and 18 were occupied at the time of the incident There were 3540 people there and some had left the hotel in the morning he saidHe said the fire could have been caused by a short circuit and the exact cause is being ascertainedThe hotel owner told us that there is a banquet on the first floor where something happened Gangwar saidThe hotel also has a rooftop bar visitors saidThe injured included fireman Chandresh Yadav who sustained burn injuries while rescuing peopleUjjawal who was staying on the second floor of the hotel said fire broke out at around 7 am and he saw smoke in his roomWhen I came out I along with others tried to go out but thick smoke engulfed the entire floor I could not see anything due to the smoke Then we reached the third floor and broke a window to come out and were rescued he saidI fear many are still trapped and there is no way out he addedAnother guest on the same floor said there were no fire fighting arrangements in the hotel due to which they got trappedShyam a caretaker of a nearby building said he was the first to see the smoke emanating out of the hotel and informed the fire brigade teamI myself broke several window panes and reached up with the help of iron angels and saved a few people with the help of others he saidLucknow MP and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took cognisance of the incidentI came to know about the tragic incident of a fire in a hotel in Lucknow I have inquired about the situation from the local administration Relief and rescue operations are on My office is in constant touch with the local administration I pray to God for the speedy recovery of those injured in the incident Singh said in a tweetDeputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said strict action will be taken against the guiltyWe will also see that there is no recurrence of such incidents And for this directives will be issued for the entire state he saidPathak who also holds the health portfolio said an advisory will be issued for proper fire safety service arrangement in all public establishmentsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever