Four people, including two women, died while over a dozen suffered burns after a massive fire broke out in a four-storey hotel, Lewana Suite, in the city’s commercial hub in Hazratganj early morning on Monday. Seven firemen also suffered injuries in the rescue operation.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak expressed grief over the unfortunate incident. After the CM ordered a probe, a two-member team consisting of Divisional Commissioner Roshan Jacob and Commissioner of Lucknow Police SN Shiradkar was formed on the instruction of Principal Secretary, Home, Sanjay Prasad.
Briefing the newsmen, Joint Commissioner, Law and Order, Piyush Mordia said hotel owners Rohit Agrawal & Rahul Agrawal and general manager Sagar Srivastava had been detained and were being interrogated. He said the Hazratganj police would file an FIR after the forensic audit team concluded its probe at the site.
He said that the DGP had issued an advisory to the UP Police, asking them to work in coordination with the fire department, Nagar Nigam and Lucknow Development Authority to review security measures in high-rise buildings, hotels, schools, shopping malls and other commercial complexes.
He said the police were informed about the incident around 7 am and it seemed that the inmates responded late to the fire which led to an increase in casualties. For several hours, the rescue teams inspected the premises of Levana Suites on Madan Mohan Malviya Marg in Hazratganj to check if someone had been trapped and it took more than six hours to douse the blaze.
Initially, 10 people were rushed to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civil Hospital. Of them, two were declared dead while seven were undergoing treatment. One of the injured was discharged. Two more people were later rushed to the hospital and they were declared ‘brought dead’.
“Two people, who were found in a serious condition during a room-to-room search drive, were rushed to the Civil hospital. They were declared brought dead,” Mordia told mediapersons.
“The deceased have been identified as Gurnoor Singh Anand (28) of Naka Hindola, Sahiba Kaur alias Jaspreet (26) of Ganeshganj, Shravika Singh (30) of Indiranagar and Aman Ghazi alias Bobby (35) of Khurramnagar,” the Lucknow district administration said in a statement.
Ujjawal, who was staying on the second floor of the hotel, said fire broke out at around 7 am and he saw smoke in his room. “When I came out, I tried to go out along with others, but thick smoke engulfed the entire floor. I could not see anything. 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 firefighting arrangements in the hotel due to which they got trapped.
CM Yogi Adityanath visited the injured in the hospital and enquired about their condition. He directed the officials concerned to provide free and appropriate treatment to the injured. Police Commissioner Shiradkar said the forensic audit of the hotel building would be done.
The fire, which led to panic in the area, engulfed the entire hotel within minutes, eyewitnesses said.
Crowds gathered as evacuation efforts got underway. Fire teams had a tough time dousing the flames after breaking glass panes. “The façade of the hotel had grills used as fences and the open space between the grills covered with wooden sheets. The rear portion of the hotel had no proper ventilation and the firemen had to break the wall to ensure ventilation,” Mordia said.
The rescue teams also used bulldozers to break a wall on the first floor to help in firefighting. Both NDRF and SDRF teams were also pressed for the rescue operation, the official said.
“The hotel owner said there are 30 rooms in the building and 18 of them on the first and second floor were occupied at the time of the incident. There were 35-40 people in the hotel,” District Magistrate Suryapal Gangwar told reporters.
He said the fire could have been caused by a short-circuit and the exact cause was being ascertained. “The hotel owner told us that there is a banquet on the first floor where something happened,” Gangwar said. The hotel also has a rooftop bar, visitors said.
The injured included fireman Chandresh Yadav, who sustained burns while rescuing people. “The firemen entered the hotel braving a thick cloud of smoke and they suffered suffocation and injuries in their attempts to save the inmates. They were later admitted to a hospital,” Mordia said.
Shyam, a caretaker of a nearby building, said he was the first to see the smoke emanating out of the hotel and informed the fire brigade team.
“I broke several window panes and reached up with the help of iron angles and saved some people with the help of others,” he said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also took cognisance of the incident. “I came to know about the tragic incident of a fire in a hotel in Lucknow. I have enquired about the situation from the local administration. Relief and rescue operations are on. My office is in constant touch with the local administration. I pray to God for the speedy recovery of those injured in the incident,” Singh said in a tweet.
Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak said strict action would be taken against the guilty. “We will also see that there is no recurrence of such incidents. And for this, directives will be issued for the entire state,” he said.
Pathak, who also holds the health portfolio, said an advisory would be issued for proper fire safety service arrangement in all public establishments.