A fire inside of a luxury hotel in Karachi, Pakistan killed at least 12 people and injured dozens more on Monday, AFP reported.
The blaze occurred at the four-star, 400-plus-room Regent Plaza hotel.
While the cause of the fire is unclear, it reportedly began in the kitchen on the hotel's ground floor, trapping some guests on the hotel's upper floors and forcing some to tie bed sheets together to escape from windows.
In a troubling revelation, Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar told reporters that the hotel had "no fire exits or fire alarms." However the hotel's management refuted that assessment, claiming that fire fighting equipment was present and that each floor features three emergency exits.
"The same emergency exits were used by the hotel staff to evacuate more than 500 people, and a member of the hotel staff lost his life during while performing his duty," a statement read.
Under-resourced firefighters were able to contain the fire after approximately three hours.
The hotel's front desk manager was among the dead, according to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center's head of emergency services Seemin Jamali via AFP. Meanwhile, three foreigners said to be affected by the incident are in stable condition.
Many of the 75 or so people who were injured suffered from smoke inhalation, while some others were treated for injuries sustained from jumping out of windows and shattered glass.
"Trapped people showed courage and made ropes of bed sheets and came out one by one, many people have been injured," injured hotel guest Saeed ur Rehman told AFP.
CCTV News shared some images from the scene.
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