Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu:
Eight panic-stricken French tourists were evacuated to safety on Saturday after a thick plume of smoke engulfed a three-star hotel in Thanjavur, following a fire.
The French nationals, staying in four rooms on the eighth floor, were gripped by panic when they saw smoke entering their rooms through the ventilators and sought help thinking it could be a major fire.
The hotel staff swung into action and evacuated them to safety soon, police said.
The fire broke out in the kitchen as the chef was preparing some oily dish and turned into a blaze. Though the hotel staff controlled the fire using the in house extinguishers, thick smoke continued to billow out, DSP Jose Thangaiah said.
A girl, trapped in the lift after power supply was switched off following the mishap, was rescued by breaking open the glass door.
Two fire tenders battled for an hour to extinguish the fire and clear the smoke. The cause of the fire was under investigation, police said.