Fire in Puri resort, guests safely evacuated

BHUBANESWAR: Several guests of a resort in Puri had a narrow escape after fire erupted in the building on VIP Road on Tuesday.

According to fire department personnel, the blaze started in the store room located on the fourth floor of Pride Ananya Resort and later smoke engulfed the entire building. The fire officers rushed to the spot and doused the flames.

The fire personnel evacuated all the guests safely from the building having a basement and five floors. The officers suspect that the blaze erupted possibly due to a short circuit in the store room of the resort.
The fire personnel informed this paper that the resort did not have adequate fire fighting equipment.

“The fixed fire fighting equipment installed in the resort are non-functional. We are investigating the matter and further steps will be taken accordingly,” a fire  officer said. The fire department’s personnel had recently conducted a surprise inspection at the hotels and malls in Cuttack and it was revealed that besides absence of adequate fire fighting measures, the establishments did not have fire safety licenses.