13 killed in hotel blaze in Uttar Pradesh

Pratapgarh (UP), Jun 19: Thirteen persons, including two doctors and a journalist, were on Friday killed and 10 injured when a fire broke out in a hotel in Babaganj area here.

The incident occurred at about 4.30 AM in Goyal Residency Hotel. Fire engulfed the four-storey building killing 10 persons on the spot.

13 persons were injured in the blaze, Superintendent of Police (SP) Balikaran Yadav said. The injured were rushed to hospital.

Three of them succumbed to injures during treatment at a hospital in nearby Allahabad district.

Prima facie the cause of fire appeared to be short circuit, he said.

Pratapgarh is about 170 kms from state capital Lucknow. Those killed were identified as Basant Narain (35), Om Prakash (35), both doctors, Manoj Sharma (30), who is 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.

PTI