Fire tenders were rushed to the iconic Taj Hotel and guests evacuated from its tower wing after smoke billowed from the building following a short-circuit today.
"There was a short-circuit in one of the offices in the basement. There is no fire. Everything is under control now. There are no casualties," Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) Vice-Chairman R K Krishna Kumar said.
Eight fire tenders and eight water tankers were rushed to the luxury hotel in South Mumbai after a short-circuit was detected near the staff locker room of the basement of the new building at noon between 1200 and 1215 hrs.
Abdullah Mohammed, a guest from Dubai staying at the hotel, said he received a call in his room saying there was a fire and asking to evacuate immediately.
"We were given surgical masks and sent down," he added.
"There was lot of smoke, but no fire. We called the fire brigade for assistance. We have evacuated all the guests and sent them to nearby sister hotels," company's Senior Vice- President, Sales and Marketing, Ajay Mishra said.
Kumar explained wiring problems may have caused the short-circuit.
"There is a big function planned tomorrow in the hotel and we expect to be ready for it," Kumar said.
Taj will tomorrow host the launch of its sister company Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover in which Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata will also be present.
