2016 Regent Plaza hotel fire

During the early morning of December 5, 2016 a fire broke out in Karachi, Pakistan's Regent Plaza luxury hotel. While over 500 guests were safely evacuated from the building, 12 died of smoke inhalation and 110 were injured by falls, broken glass and smoke.

2016 Regent Plaza hotel fire

2016 Regent Plaza hotel fire (Pakistan)
Date	5 December 2016
Time	3:00 AM
Location	Karachi, Pakistan
Type	Hotel fire
Cause	Electrical fire
Deaths	12
Non-fatal injuries	110

Regent Plaza hotel

Regent Plaza is a 10-story tall hotel located on Shahrah-e-Faisal in Karachi, Pakistan. The hotel has 8 floors dedicated to rooming guests, with 413 rooms and 20 suits.[1]

Incident

Fire

Regent Plaza staff called emergency services around 3:00 AM to report fire breaking out in the main kitchen.[2] Hotel chief security officer Mohammad Saad said to the media that "We suspect the fire started in one of our freezers on the ground floor" after a short circuit.[3] The hotel's concrete structure prevented the flames from spreading into the upper floors, but copious amounts of toxic smoke were generated by burning materials in the kitchen and dining areas. Some evacuated guests claimed to have woken up to fire and smoke between 3:00 and 3:30 am, by smoke coming in to the rooms through the central air-conditioning system.[4]

As hotel staff evacuated over 500 guests from the building the hotel's air conditioning systems remained on, allowing the smoke to spread via ventilation throughout the upper floors.[5] Despite the fire not spreading into the upper floors of the building, smoke obstructed primary escape routes causing many guests to escape via their windows. The fire was contained around 9:30 am (4:30 GMT).[6]

Evacuation

Though the Regent Plaza hotel reportedly had 3 fire exits per floor, they were unlabeled. Regent Plaza was gradually being filled with smoke by the air conditioning system that remained on. Hotel staff worked to evacuated hundreds of guests, while many other guests remained asleep and unaware of the danger. According to Chief Fire Office Tehseen Siddiqui "No fire exits had been marked inside the hotel. The smoker detectors are there, but they aren't functioning. The fire alarm did not go off."[7] However, Karachi's Mayor Waseem Akhtar told reporters that the hotel had "no fire exits or fire alarms".[8]

Guests trapped in their hotel's upper floors who found the hallways obstructed by smoke tied their bedsheets together into rope ladders, using them to climb down the hotel's sides.[6] Some guests, including a Pakistani cricket player, fell and injured themselves escaping this way.[9] A hotel guest told reporters that she evacuated by crossing a ladder across the rooftops,[10] while about 100 others were rescued via a crane.[11] A local TV channel Abb Takk reported that 200 local and foreign doctors had been staying in the hotel for a seminar, allowing many to attempt to provide medical assistance.[12] For those that were trapped on higher levels, many had to be rescued from balconies and rooms after waiting for almost three hours.[4]

Aftermath

In the initial aftermath of the incident, a doctor at Jinnah Hospital in Karachi stated there were " 11 dead bodies and 75 people injured..." Later that evening, a 12th person was found in a 2nd floor washing machine room. 12 people in total perished, all from smoke inhalation, including 3 doctors and the hotel's front desk manager.[5]

In the evacuation panic, at least 65 guests had injured themselves stampeding down stairways or jumping from the upper floors. Over the next day, the number of injured grew from 75 to 110 as more people were checked in at Jinnah Hospital. Police Senior Superintended Saqib Memon confirmed that the fire took 3 hours in total to bring under control.[13] The United Bank Limited cricket team players who were playing in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Super Eight tie were also injured in the incident. UBL's all-rounder Yasim Murtaza suffered ankle break while leg-spinner Karamat Ali received injuries to his hand. Meanwhile, right-arm fast-bowlers Adil Raza and Sadaif Mehdi suffered from smoke inhalation.[4]

Some guests were critical of the evacuation and first responders efforts during the fire, and claimed there were long periods of time without aid or direction. One victim stated; "Four to five hours everybody was looking helpless, crying for help and nobody was there to help them."[12]

References

1. "Regent Plaza Hotel & Convention Center". HotelPlanner. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
2. "Regent Plaza admin claims fire department took an hour to respond". DawnNews. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
3. "'More panic than lack of safety measures complicated matters during fire'". DawnNews. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
4. "Four UBL players injured in Regent Plaza fire incident - Daily Times". Daily Times. 2016-12-06. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
5. Ali, Imitiaz; Gaffer, Abdul; Feroze, Junaid (5 December 2016). "12 killed in fire at Karachi's Regent Plaza hotel". DawnNews. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
6. "Pakistan's Regent Plaza hotel hit by deadly fire". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
7. Solomon, Feliz (5 December 2016). "11 Dead and Dozens Injured After an Early Morning Fire at a Luxury Hotel in Pakistan". Time. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
8. "Blaze at Top Hotel 'With No Fire Exits' in Pakistan Kills 11". Time. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
9. "Pakistan: Multiple deaths, injuries in four-star hotel fire". CBS News. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
10. "Fire at luxury Karachi hotel kills 11". BBC News. 2016-12-05. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
11. Kirby, Will (2016-12-05). "Pakistan cricketer 'saves family' after fire engulfs hotel, leaving 11 dead". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
12. "No emergency exits at four-star Karachi hotel where 11 died in fire". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
13. "Karachi hotel fire death toll rises to 12". Samaa TV. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2018.