A fireman walks up the ladder to rescue boarders from the hotel floors and (above) firemen douse fire in the kitchen of Priya Hotel. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, April 19: Property worth over Rs 2lakh was destroyed as a popular south Indian hotel and restaurant — Priya Hotel — in Unit III area of the city caught fire this afternoon.

Fire brigade personnel, who took around an hour to control the fire, rescued three persons from the first floor of the hotel building. The fire that started from the kitchen soon spread to other parts of the building.

“We were busy cooking when all of a sudden oil in the frying pan caught fire which leapt towards the ceiling. Unable to bring the fire under control, we ran away from the kitchen,” said Rama Reddy, a cook in the restaurant.

The restaurant was packed with people when the fire was noticed around 3pm. Three fire tenders took about an hour to douse the flames.

Fire brigade officials said they got information around 3.15pm about the hotel catching fire and some people being trapped inside the building.

“One of our vehicles was sent to the spot with the fire fighting team. Later, two more vehicles were sent to control the fire,” said fire officer B.B Das.

The firefighters wearing oxygen masks entered the building and rescued three persons from the first floor. They were rushed to the hospital for treatment. The loss of property, according to preliminary estimates, was estimated at more than Rs 2lakh.

Hotel staff said the restaurant on the ground floor was packed with people when the fire broke. Most of the rooms were occupied.

“I was in a room on the second floor with my brother and a friend when we felt something burning. When I opened the door I saw smoke everywhere. We rushed to the roof to save ourselves,” said Kailash Chandra Agrawal, a businessman from Mayurbhanj who had checked in yesterday.

Agarwal added that he tried to contact others to inform the police or the fire brigade to save them.

“After more than an hour we were brought down by the fire brigade officials. By then the fire was doused. Smoke was coming only from the kitchen,” added Agrawal.

The occupants are really afraid and do not feel safe in the hotel anymore. “I was staying on the third floor, when I heard people shouting that the hotel had caught fire. Without thinking anything, my son and I went to the roof. Later, fire brigade people rescued us from the building,” said Rita Pradhan.

This incident has put questions on the fire safety of multi-storeyed commercial complexes in the city. Das said they would conduct an inquiry about the incident and whether the fire fighting equipment kept in the hotel was used or not.

“We will check everything and submit a report to our higher authorities as well as the city police,” said Das, adding that the building lacked smoke ventilation system.

Manager of the hotel K. Binu was not present when the incident occurred. He said the hotel staff informed him about the incident.

“Although, the staff tried to douse the fire, they failed and thus a fire brigade was finally called,” said Binu.