LAHORE: A fire erupted in a hotel in the Gulberg area on Thursday morning, causing minor injuries to some guests while burning furniture and other valuables.

Many guests, including foreign nationals who were staying in the hotel, jumped out of it by smashing windowpanes of their rooms when they were allegedly left unattended to save their lives on their own.

According to the initial reports, the fire had erupted in the reception area before spreading to other portions of the building.

“We got out at 5:26am. So the fire must have started around 5am,” a foreign woman who was staying in a room of the hotel told Dawn by phone. She said the alarm was very quiet and what woke her up was the smoke and smell of burnt articles.

“As my friend who was sharing my room opened the door, a plume of black thick smoke came in and we got terrified. We came out of the room by smashing windowpanes and saw people running helter-skelter to save themselves from the fire and smoke,” she said.

“We went back to the hotel around 1pm to get our bags and they (hotel workers) were cleaning the rooms,” the woman added.

A video clip of the fire incident showed a guest unable to walk properly.

The reports said Rescue 1122 responded to the emergency timely and launched an operation.

The guests alleged that the hotel management made no effort to take care of the guests in an emergency situation or offered any help.

Interestingly, the incident was not reported officially by the departments concerned.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2022