Lucknow: Four people were killed and at least 10 injured Monday morning after a fire broke out in a hotel here. The fire prompted authorities to issue orders for demolition of the four-storey building after following the ‘due process’. Police have detained two owners of the hotel and its general manager for questioning.
For several hours, rescue teams inspected the premises of the ‘Levana Suites’ on Madan Mohan Malviya Marg in the city’s commercial centre Hazratganj to check if someone had been trapped, officials said. They added it took more than six hours to douse the hotel blaze. The deceased included two women, the officials added.
Initially, 10 people were rushed to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee civil hospital here. Of these, two were declared dead on arrival and seven are currently undergoing treatment. One of the injured has been released, informed officials. They also added that later in the day two more persons had been pronounced dead on arrival.
“Two 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 informed.
“The deceased have been identified as Gurnoor Singh Anand (28), a resident of Naka Hindola (Lucknow), Sahiba Kaur alias Jaspreet (26), a resident of Ganeshganj (Lucknow), Shravika Singh (30), a resident of Indiranagar (Lucknow) and Aman Ghazi alias Bobby (35), a resident of Khurramnagar (Lucknow),” the Lucknow district administration said in a statement here.
Ujjawal, who was staying on the second floor of the hotel, said fire broke out at around 7.00am and he saw smoke in his room. “When I came out, I along with others tried to get 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 said.
Another guest on the same floor said there were no fire fighting arrangements in the hotel due to which they got trapped.
Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Roshan Jacob said that the zonal officer had May 7 sent a notice to the hotel. They had replied May 12, and presented the renewal (certificate) of the fire NOC (no objection certificate) from 2021 to 2024.
“Prima facie, despite the lack of fire escape management system, and iron grilles on the facade, how fire NOC was given is a matter of investigation,” said Jacob, who is also the chairman of Lucknow Development Authority (LDA).
“The owners did not provide any map of the building approved as a hotel to the LDA. A notice was issued by the zonal officer May 26, and another August 28 as no reply was given. In this regard, the hotel be immediately sealed as per law and then be demolished,” Jacob said in an order.
Effective disciplinary action should be ensured against the officials who were involved in making the hotel functional without its map being passed, said another official.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited the injured in the hospital and enquired about their health. He also ordered a joint probe by the commissioner, Lucknow division, and police commissioner of Lucknow into the incident.