Dehradun (Uttarakhand): In a tragic incident, an elderly woman tourist from Uttarakhand capital Dehradun was charred to death while four others suffered burn injuries after the hotel she was staying at was gutted by a massive blaze at tourist resort Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district on Monday, officials said.
It is learnt that the three-storey hotel 'The Mansion' caught fire on Monday. Sources said that fire emanated from one of the floors of the hotel and later engulfed the entire building. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. As the fire raged, the local Fire Brigade was rushed to the spot to douse the flames even as a massive rescue operation was launched to evacuate the tourists trapped inside the hotel.
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Officials said that six tourists, who were trapped inside the hotel were rescued. However, an elderly woman from Dehradun died in the fire incident. The deceaed has been identified as Bhupinder, 76, wife of Dalbinder Singh. Reports said that four employees of the gutted hotel were injured in the incident. The three-storey hotel building predominantly built in wood suffered heavy damage.
Soon after the incident, local police rushed to the spot and took the body into custody. The body was taken to Pahalgam Public Health Center for conducting a post-mortem. The body is being handed over to the family. It was not immediately known whether the fire was caused by a short-circuit or there was any other cause of the fire.
Police have launched an investigation into the incident.
