4 killed, 7 injured as fire breaks out in Lucknow hotel

District magistrate Suryapal Gangwar said that the hotel had been sealed till further orders

Four persons, including a newly engaged couple, were killed and 18 others sustained severe injuries, in a major fire, which broke out at a hotel in Lucknow on Monday.

According to the police sources here, the number of dead could go up as at least seven of the injured, who had sustained third-degree burns, were in critical condition and were battling for their lives in the hospital. The injured were admitted to the Civil Hospital.

Sources said that the fire, which was believed to have been caused by a short circuit, engulfed the second and third floors of the hotel within no time, trapping the guests in their rooms.

A dozen fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the leaping flames, sources said, adding that the firefighters had a tough time reaching out to the trapped guests and rescuing them. ''There were around 35-40 guests at the hotel when the fire broke out,'' said an official here.

The official said that the smoke sensor alarms were non-functional. He also said that the Hotel had recently been served notices by the Lucknow Development Authority regarding violation of fire safety norms.

He said that the fire had not yet been fully extinguished and apprehended that some people might still have been trapped in their rooms.

A probe would be conducted into the incident and stern action would be taken against the Hotel management if it turned out that there were violations of the fire safety norms, the official added.

Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, who was also an MP from Lucknow, condoled the loss of lives in the fire. UP deputy chief minister Brijesh Pathak visited the hospital and directed for providing all possible medical care to the injured.