Child among five killed in fire at two hotels in Lucknow

Five people, including a one-year child, were killed and six others were injured after a fire broke out in two hotels in the crowded Naka area of Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow on Tuesday morning, officials said.

At least 38 guests were rescued by the firefighters from the hotels as they were completely damaged in the fire.

Lucknow’s senior superintendent of police Deepak Kumar said the fire broke out in SSJ International and Virat International inside a narrow lane of Dhoodmandi near Mushafirkhana in Naka area.

Kumar said the fire started from the basement of SJS International at around 5am apparently due to a short circuit and flames soon engulfed the adjoining Virat International. He said flames engulfed the hotels before the rescue operation could be started.

The senior official said over a dozen guests were sent to the civil hospital where five people, including a child named Maher*, who was staying along with her family in one of the two hotels, were declared brought dead. He added the people reportedly suffocated to death after being trapped inside the hotel buildings.

Kumar said the preliminary probe suggested that the firefighting equipment was installed in the hotels but the staff were not trained to use them and the flames could not be doused. He said the hotel owners, as well as the employees, fled from the scene after the incident.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath expressed his condolence to the families who lost their relatives in the incident. He asked officials to ensure help to those injured in the incident. State minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi visited the civil hospital where the injured were undergoing treatment.

Deadly blazes are common in India, where unscrupulous builders and officials often overlook safety standards.

Fourteen people were killed after a fire broke out in a rooftop restaurant and engulfed a four-storey building in Mumbai’s thriving Kamala Mills complex in December last year.

(* The child’s name has been corrected.}