At least seven persons were killed and an equal number of persons were rescued, after a major fire broke out at a hotel in Gondia town of eastern Maharashtra on Wednesday morning.
The fire was noticed inside one of the floors of Bindal Thaat Plaza hotel at Gondia at around 4 am. Before long, the fire spread to the entire hotel, which is a four-storey structure located in a congested area.
At least 15 fire engines and water tenders rushed to the spot. The firemen battled with the leaping flames for more than five hours.
Of the seven persons killed, five persons were identified as Prem Santosh Shahu (40), Surendra Deeplal Soni (63), Aditya Ashokrao Kunade (31), Abhijit Vishwas Patil (29) and Ravindra Jain.
The bodies of two other deceased had not been identified till the evening.
Though at least 20 persons were initially feared trapped inside rooms of the hotel the fire brigade personnel rescued seven persons after they brought the fire under control.
In an effort to escape from the fire, two persons leaped down from top floor of the building. Both were injured in the process.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that a domestic gas cylinder blast led to the fire.
District Collector Abhimanyu Kale and Superintendent of Police Dilip Patil Bhujbal rushed to the mishap site and supervised the rescue work.