Six people were killed and 19 injured in a major fire that broke out in a hotel located near Patna Junction under the Kotwali police station area of the State capital on Thursday. Half a dozen fire tender vehicles were used to douse off the fire.
All those injured were admitted to Patna Medical College and Hospital; the condition of two people was critical.
“Six people died in the fire incident; however, the identity of the deceased has not been identified yet. Two people are critical and 19 were admitted to the hospital for treatment. Gas cylinder catching fire is said to be the reason for the incident. However, investigation is underway to ascertain the actual cause of the fire. Out of the six, three are men and three women,“ Chandra Prakash, Superintendent of Police (Patna Central), told The Hindu.
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A total of 45 people were rescued from the burning building. As a precaution, the buildings near the hotel were evacuated.
Fire Department DIG Mrityunjay Kumar Choudhary said that they received information about the fire at Pal Hotel around 11 a.m., after which a team was rushed to the spot.
The fire department claimed that a fire audit of all the hotels in the city was being carried out and it had already covered 16,000 hotels. However, inquiry was on to check if the audit had been completed at Pal Hotel.
In an official statement, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed deep grief over the incident.
Meanwhile, a Janata Dal-(United) leader Saurabh Kumar was shot dead late in the night on Wednesday by miscreants on a bike when he was returning from a wedding reception. The incident occurred at Badhiya Kal village under Punpun police station. A person named Munmun Kumar accompanying the deceased was also shot at but was now out of danger.
