A HUGE fire ripped through a ski resort hotel overnight and forced 500 people, including Brits, to flee the building.
According to reports, some visitors lost everything to the fire. This included their ski equipment and all of their clothing. This incident led the UK government to issue a caution for holidaymakers.
Guests were left shivering in the snow wearing only their night clothes, and then crammed into a local sports centre for shelter.
The fire near Albertville in the French Alps ignited around 2:45 am on Wednesday. Over 90 firefighters and 40 fire trucks worked tirelessly to contain the flames.
Bruno Charlot, a local official, said that 484 people had been evacuated in just 15 minutes, with four needing hospital treatment.
He said: “In the end, four people were slightly injured, mainly as a result of light smoke poisoning.”
Bruno added that three people had already been discharged after being checked over.
Paul Tucker, 76, was one of the Brits caught in night-time the chaos.
He told The Telegraph: “People were hurrying but they weren’t panicking, and we were out of the hotel in five minutes.”
Jennifer Tsang is a local mum who helped people escape the burning hotel.
She said: “They had to run to the sports centre in their bare feet.
“When I arrived at about 6am, there were people just in shorts and tops, they had no coats, nothing.”
A social media post said many guests had lost clothes and ski equipment, and that some had lost “everything”.
The blaze burned for hours and damaged three-quarters of the building.
It was under control but still not completely extinguished by mid-morning, and smoke was still visible in the afternoon.
Police said the fire started on the outside of the building and spread to the roof.
The cause of the fire remains a mystery, but an investigation into its origin continues.
Capucine Courau, 45, from Luxembourg, said her husband “heard some sort of explosion at around 2.30am, or at least a loud thud” in the hotel.
The UK Government said it was aware of the fire on its foreign travel advice page.
Its statement said: “There is an ongoing incident following a fire on April 9 in the ski resort of La Plagne, in the Alps.
“If you are in the area or planning to travel to the area, follow the advice of local authorities and check your tour operator’s advice.”
Dame Menna Rawlings, the UK ambassador to France, expressed gratitude to the local responders for their quick and effective efforts. She acknowledged their actions likely prevented casualties during the night.
Some of the evacuees were customer of Crystal Skim which said: “We would like to apologise to customers whose holiday has been impacted following a contained fire at the Hotel Club MMV Plagne 2000 this morning.
“We can confirm that all customers were safely evacuated and have been moved to a nearby location where our team is taking care of them.
“Guests are being provided with necessary essentials needed including refreshments, food and clothing.”
Local authorities said they expected to find new rooms for everyone who fled the hotel by Wednesday.
Jean Luc Boch, the mayor of La Plagne, said: “We have set up a system of accommodation in the various residences of the Plagne resort, and even in other resorts.”
