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Hotel Fire Claims a Dozen Lives in Georgia's Batumi Resort - Reports

© Sputnik / Alexandr Chapurin / Go to the mediabankView of Batumi from an observation deck of the Argo aerial cableway.
View of Batumi from an observation deck of the Argo aerial cableway. - Sputnik International
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Local media reported that the conflagration had allegedly started in the spa of the 22-story Leogrand hotel when it was used by the Miss Georgia beauty pageant contestants.

Tbilisi (Sputnik) — A blaze at a hotel in the Georgian seaside resort of Batumi reportedly killed 12 guests and hurt dozens overnight, Georgian media outlets said.

Georgian Interior Minister George Mghebrishvili said that foreign citizens were among the dead, adding that the incident has claimed at least 11 lives.

"I have information that 11 people were killed," the Minister said.

Riot police make a line during riots in the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi, early Sunday, March 12, 2017. - Sputnik International
Georgian Prime Minister Calls Batumi Riots 'Planned Provocation'
Batumi authorities have promptly evacuated all of the hotel guests because hundreds of people were unable to leave the building on their own due to the dense smoke and hazardously spreading flames, reports said.

Earlier on in the day, Georgian Deputy Health Minister Zaza Sopromadze said 21 people had been taken to hospitals, three were promptly discharged. She added no one was in a life-threatening condition.

According to Georgian media reports, all of the beauty contestants were also unhurt.

The authorities have deployed over a hundred firefighters to battle the massive blaze.

Meantime, Georgian officials have launched a probe into the cause of the deadly incident, saying that basic fire safety rules were allegedly neglected.

 

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