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High level committee begins probe into Lucknow hotel fire tragedy
Teams investigate into lapses and faulty fire safety arrangements on the hotel premises; survivors turn up to collect their belongings from the site
LUCKNOW A high-level committee on Tuesday began a probe into the Levana Suites tragedy to ascertain the cause of the fire that claimed four lives and left eight people injured on Monday. The team comprised commissioner of police (CP) SB Shiradkar, divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob, forensic experts, fire services, police personnel and a team of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA).
A major fire broke out on the second and third floors of the hotel on Madan Mohan Malviya Marg on Monday morning. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had visited the injured survivors in hospital to enquire about their wellbeing and ordered a joint probe by Lucknow CP and divisional commissioner into the incident.
While the forensic team examined each and every part of the hotel to ascertain the reason behind the blaze, the police and fire services team investigated into the lapses and faulty fire safety arrangements on the premises. The LDA team evaluated the loopholes in the construction of the building and the functioning of the hotel from this location.
The ground floor of the hotel has a restaurant and reception while the first floor has a banquet hall. There are 15 rooms each on the second and third floors of the hotel. Of these, 18 were occupied when the fire broke out.
The police had lodged an FIR against four people, including two cousin brothers Rahul and Rohit Agarwal, who owned the hotel, Rohit’s father Pawan Agarwal and the hotel’s general manager Sagar Srivastava under IPC sections 304 (for causing death due to negligent act) and 308 (for risking people’s lives by making them unconscious with their act).
The allegations mentioned in the FIR lodged on the complaint of Hazratganj police station senior sub-inspector Daya Shankar Dwivedi stated that no fire safety measures were in place at the hotel. Besides, the hotel did not have emergency entry and exit routes and the electric arrangements were also inappropriate.
The FIR also stated that there were no measures to handle emergency situations while iron grills/panels were installed on window panes that do not allow people to exit from the windows. It further stated that that hotel owners and managers were aware about these lapses and they put people’s lives at risk by operating the hotel from the building.
A day after the fire incident, over 15 of the survivors turned up at Levana Suites on Tuesday to collect their belongings. The two persons, who were reported missing after the incident, where also found safe and sound. Police said the duo shifted to their relative’s place after escaping out of the hotel on Monday.
Additional DCP (central) Rajesh Srivastava, who was on the spot, said the survivors started reaching the hotel since morning, and over 15 turned up to collect their belongings that were left behind after the fire broke out at the hotel. He said the police prepared the list of survivors and handed their belongings after verifying their identities.
2 MISSING PERSONS SAFE & SOUND
He said the two persons – Naina Tewari (who stayed in hotel room number 314) and Ujjwal Mishra (who stayed in room number 208) – who were reported missing after the incident, were found safe and sound. Mishra turned up on Tuesday morning to collect his belongings while the police had a conversation with Naina Tewari’s father and came to know that she was safe and putting up at her relative’s house in Lucknow, added the ADCP.
Ujjwal Mishra told media that he remained present outside the hotel for several hours on Monday, but nobody took notice of him. “Thereafter, I shifted to another place as I was completely exhausted. I came to know that the police and administration had declared me missing,” he added.
