Tourist family suffers burns in Murree hotel fire

A woman and her three children suffered burn injuries on Saturday when a gas cylinder exploded in a local hotel of Murree, a mountain resort town in Punjab.

Soon after receiving information, Rescue 1122 teams reached the site and extinguished the fire.

They provided first aid to the injured and later shifted them to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Murree where their condition was stated to be stable.

According to the spokesperson of Rescue 1122, the gas cylinder exploded due to a gas leak in the hotel room and caused the incident.

The injured were identified as 34-year-old Maryam Aslam, nine-month-old Manahil, 3-year-old Ibrahim and 5-year-old Mahim.

Also read: Gas cylinder explosion injures four

The family from Sargodha was staying at the Murree hotel during winter vacations.

The incident took place despite the district administration with the onset of winter, and prior to the arrival of tourists, banned the use of gas cylinders for heating in hotels and guest houses in the resort town.

Civil Defence Department (CDD) District Officer (DO) Civil Defence Talib Hussain said last month that the ban had been implemented with immediate effect, and any hotels and guest houses found in violation of the prohibition would be sealed.

A case would be registered against the owners and the authorities will not hesitate to make arrests.

The implementation of the ban would be closely monitored by Assistant Commissioner Murree.

According to the DO, a considerable number of tourists from all over the country flock to Murree to enjoy the snow season and hoteliers charge them exorbitantly in the name of ‘heating’, for which they use gas cylinders in rooms.