City hotel goes up in flames; property worth `30 lakh gutted

Hyderabad: In a major fire mishap, a city hotel went into flames on Sunday spreading panic in the locality. Fear gripped the staff of MMT Hotel at Pahadishareef Crossroads in Yerragunta on Sunday after a fire broke out in the kitchen. Thick smoke billowed out of the kitchen on the ground floor and engulfed the entire hotel building within no time.

On receipt of information, a fire tender from Mogulpura was pressed into service and after two hours of battling, the fire brigade controlled the blaze. However, no casualty was reported.

“Based on a complaint by Ali Abdul, the owner of the hotel, Pahadishareef police registered a case,” inspector P Venkateshwarlu said.

According to fire officials, the blaze started in the kitchen around 6 am. Material kept in the kitchen and furniture inside the hotel was completely gutted in the incident.

Mogulpura fire officer said the chimney of the kitchen that had not been cleaned for about a year had a thick layer of smoke, ash and oil on its sides.

This dirt fueled the fire when cooking was going on in the hotel kitchen and the fire reached the roof.

The loss of property has been estimated at Rs 25 lakhs. “Had the fire assumed a major form, many other neighboring buildings too would have been damaged,” the officer said adding they immediately asked the staff members to leave the hotel and put out the power.