13 charred in UP hotel blaze, 10 hurt

Thirteen persons, including two doctors and a journalist, were killed and 10 injured when a fire broke out in a hotel in Babaganj area of the city on Friday.

The incident occurred around 4.30 am in Goyal Residency Hotel. Fire engulfed the four-storey building killing 10 persons on the spot. A total of 13 persons were injured in the blaze, <g data-gr-id="52">uperintendent</g> of Police (SP) <g data-gr-id="42">Balikaran</g> Yadav said.

The injured were rushed to  a hospital in Allahabad. Three of them succumbed to their <g data-gr-id="30">injures</g> during treatment.

Prima facie the cause of <g data-gr-id="33">fire</g> appeared to <g data-gr-id="32">be short-circuit</g>, he said.  Pratapgarh is about 170 km from state capital Lucknow.

Those killed were identified as Basant Narain (35), Om Prakash (35) – both doctors, Manoj Sharma (30), a journalist with a Hindi Daily; Satyavrat (40), Brijesh Kumar (32), Dileep (22) and Priyanka (24) and Khalik Kirmani (50).

The hotel was badly damaged in the fire. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has condoled the incident and announced an <g data-gr-id="36">ex-gratia</g> of Rs 2 lakh for the families of the deceased. He said directives have been issued to provide best possible treatment to those injured.

The hotel's owner Sunil Goyal and manager Lokesh have been arrested, Superintendent of Police <g data-gr-id="35">Balikaran</g> Yadav said, adding that  investigations are on.