Levana Suits fire: Officials to demolish hotel after blaze claims 4 lives; owners, manager booked

It took more than six hours to douse the blaze while the rescue teams kept looking out for more people trapped inside the building.

The massive blaze that engulfed Lucknow's Levana Suites on Monday left as many as four people dead. It is reported that at least 10 others were hospitalised with burn injuries. The hotel, located at Madan Mohan Malviya Marg in the city's commercial center Hazratganj, will now be demolished after following "due process".

According to reports, the police have detained two owners of the hotel and its general manager for questioning.

Vice-chairman of the Lucknow Development Authority Indramani Tripathi said the sealing of the hotel will begin early on Tuesday morning.

It took more than six hours to douse the blaze while the rescue teams kept looking out for more people trapped inside the building. 

Initially, 10 people were rushed to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee civil hospital. Of these, two were declared brought dead and seven are undergoing treatment. 

One of the injured was released, they said, adding that two more people were later rushed to the hospital and were declared dead.

In a statement, Joint Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, Piyush Mordia said, "Two more people who were found in a serious condition during room to room search of the hotel were rushed to the civil hospital. They were declared dead by doctors." 

"A case has been registered against owners Rahul Agarwal, Rohit Agarwal, Pawan Agarwal and Sagar Srivastava, the general manager of the hotel under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide)," the Joint Commissioner of Police said.

The fire engulfed the entire hotel within minutes. Crowds gathered as evacuation efforts got underway. Fire teams had a tough time dousing the flames after breaking glass panes.

It is reportedly said the rescue teams used bulldozers to break a wall on the first floor to help in the firefighting. Both NDRF and SDRF teams were also pressed for the rescue operation.