Fire brakes out in Indore hotel; 42 people evacuated, 10 hospitalised

A fire broke out in a six-storey hotel in Indore city of Madhya Pradesh and 42 people trapped in the building were rescued, of whom 10 were admitted to a hospital, an official said

A fire broke out in a six-storey hotel in Indore city of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday morning and 42 people trapped in the building were rescued, of whom 10 were admitted to a hospital, an official said. The incident occurred in Papaya Tree Hotel located in Rajendra Nagar area, he said.

"Forty-two people staying in Papaya Tree Hotel were trapped in the fire and were rescued by the police and fire brigade. Ten people evacuated from the hotel were admitted to a hospital and most of whom complained of difficulty in breathing due to smoke," Rau police station in-charge Narendra Raghuvanshi said. Superintendent of Police (Fire) R S Ningwal said the fire started from the roof of the hotel's ground floor, which resulted in smoke engulfing the building. After a lot of hard work, the fire was brought under control as proper arrangements to tackle the incidents of fire were not in place there, he said.

"The hotel management has installed a hydrant that is powered by electricity connection. But during the fire, the hydrant did not run due to power failure," he added.

Ningwal said that had the hotel management connected the hydrant to a generator, the flames could have been controlled immediately as it would have operated during the fire. He said he would write to the district administration and Indore Municipal Corporation to take action against the hotel management. Meanwhile, a video of the fire incident has gone viral on social media. It shows some people trapped on the sixth floor tying bed-sheets and hanging on to them like ropes, while the fire brigade is seen bringing them down with the help of ladders. "These people wanted to jump down from the hotel in panic, but we did not allow them to do so," Superintendent of Police Ningwal said. We put up ladders and brought them down safely, he said. A guest staying in the hotel said, "During the fire, some of my colleagues and I stayed on the third and fourth floors of the hotel. On hearing the noise, we immediately stepped out. At that time, the entire hotel was filled with smoke.