A fire has ravaged an iconic luxury hotel in Yangon, Myanmar, killing at least one person and injuring two others.
The BBC reported the fire started around 3 a.m. local time Thursday at the Kandawgyi Palace Hotel, a popular landmark for tourists and primarily comprised of teakwood.
More than 140 guests were evacuated from the hotel.
"We realized that something was wrong and opened the door and we smelled the smoke and then evacuated immediately," American guest, Adrienne Frilot told Frontier Myanmar. "There was no alarm and it just sort of sounded like there were drunken people in the hallways."
Frilot credited hotel staff for helping guide guests to safety.
The massive blaze took firefighters hours to extinguish. Reports of what caused the fire have been conflicting. However, a spokesman for the Htoo Group, which owns the hotel, told the AFP news agency that an investigation is ongoing.
According to the Associated Press, the teakwood upper floors of the property were completely destroyed. The fire also consumed the hotel's lower levels.
Images and video posted to social media Thursday showed towering flames and plumes of smoke rising above the hotel.
Situated on Kandawgyi Lake in Myanmar's biggest city, the four-star Kandawgyi Palace Hotel was constructed in the 1990s but has sections dating as far back as the 1930s.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Can I Still Safely Travel in Myanmar?[/READMORE]
Recently, raging wildfires have devastated several hotels and resorts in California Wine Country while last year, dozens were injured in Egypt when a fire engulfed a hotel in downtown Cairo.
Perhaps most notably, Dubai's 2015 New Year's Eve celebration was interrupted by a massive blaze that broke out at the five-star Address Hotel.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
