A broke in the home of the owner of Pal Heights Hotel in Bhubaneswar killed five people.
A massive fire broke out at the home of a hotel owner in Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar this morning, killing four of his family members and their domestic help. The fire has been brought under control.
The owner of Pal Heights Hotel, Satpal Singh, managed to survive the blaze but was injured. His two sons, Gaganpal Singh and Bhabana Singh, two children and a domestic help died, reported news agency ANI.
"The fire broke out at around 4 am. There was a security guard downstairs but he was asleep. Satpal Singh and his family were on the ground floor. They didn't know there was fire on the first and second floor," said RC Majhi, Deputy Fire Officer. He said it was the neighbours who spotted the fire and informed the Police Control Room, who, in turn, alerted the fire brigade.
Thick, dark plumes of smoke billowed from the bungalow. A large number of on-lookers were seen gathered on the street in front of the hotelier's house as fire-fighters tried to control the fire.
Local media reports said a team of forensic department officials arrived at the spot this morning and started the investigation.