CP hotel fire triggers scare, 12 receive treatment for smoke inhalation, nausea

New Delhi

New Delhi

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A fire broke in the basement of The Park hotel in Connaught Place in central Delhi on Saturday morning, triggering panic among guests, many of them foreigners, and the staffers as smoke engulfed the rooms they were staying in.

At least 12 people, including 11 foreigners, had to be rushed to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital after they complained of breathlessness, uneasiness and nausea due to smoke inhalation, the police said.

The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officials said that the hotel didn’t inform them about the fire and a senior fire official said that a notice has been issued to the hotel seeking an explanation why.

Of the 12 guests, nine were discharged after medical attention, while three others, including two Norwegian nationals, are still undergoing treatment at the hospital. “The smoke had spread to several rooms across several floors of the hotel. One of the guests brought in for treatment was staying in a room on the ninth floor of the hotel,” said additional deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi), Deepak Yadav.

“The only Indian guest, 30-year-old Kundan Rai from Gurugram, is still admitted at the hospital after suffering cuts on his hand, while breaking a glass window,” said Yadav.

A hotel staffer, too, suffered cuts on his hand while breaking a glass in the basement while trying to let the smoke escape, fire department officials said.

The police said that lapses were found on the part of the hotel authorities as they neither informed the police nor the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) about the fire incident. The police learnt about the fire incident only after the hospital authorities alerted the Rajender Nagar police station about the hotel guests who had been admitted there. The Rajender Nagar police informed the New Delhi district police about the fire and they in turn alerted the fire department.

The fire broke out in the hotel’s basement at around 9am, but we got information about it around 12.30pm. By then the hotel staffers had contained the blaze, the additional DCP said.

“A case has been registered against the hotel management and investigations are underway,” said the additional DCP.

The officer said that the hotel officials will be asked to join the probe and explain why they did not inform the police about the fire.

DFS chief Atul Garg said that five fire tenders along with firefighters were rushed to the hotel..

“We will carry out an inspection to ascertain if fire fighting arrangements were in place at the hotel to tackle such emergencies. The hotel’s fire no-objection certificate (NOC) will be cancelled if any lapses are found,” he added.

When contacted, The Park issued a statement stating, “We are deeply concerned about the incident that took place at the basement of the hotel this morning. There was a short circuit that lead to a minor fire, however, the situation was quickly normalized by our in-house crisis management team. Some of our guests were exposed to the smoke of the fire and as a precautionary measure were sent for a thorough check up to the hospital.”

“Safety has always been our top priority and we assure that all our guests and employees are safe. An investigation has been launched,” the statement read.

During the preliminary investigation, additional DCP Yadav said, it was learnt that some maintenance work was being carried out in the generator at the hostel’s basement, when a fire broke out due to a short-circuit. Some electric cables in the basement caught fire before the hotel staffers could douse the blaze using fire fighting tools available at the hotel.

“By the time the flames were contained, the smoke had engulfed the entire basement. The smoke entered the air-conditioned duct and travelled to several rooms on various floors. The guests staying in those rooms were exposed. They panicked and started complaining of breathlessness and uneasiness,” said a police officer associated with the investigation.

Dr S Katoch, additional director medical of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, “Today morning around 11am, nine patients were brought to casualty after a fire incident at The Park Hotel. Seven patients were discharged after first aid. Two male patients from Norway have been admitted for breathing difficulty due to suspected inhalation injury.”

Ends