A blaze tore through a hotel in New Delhi on Tuesday, killing at least nine people, an official said, in the latest disaster to raise concerns over fire safety in India. The fire broke out before dawn at Hotel Arpit Palace in a congested part of central Delhi. "Nine people are dead including a woman and a child. Three people are injured," G.C. Misra, the director of Delhi Fire Services, told AFP. Misra said the blaze had been brought under control and that 35 people were rescued by firefighters in an hours-long operation. Local media reports said the woman and the child died as they tried to escape by jumping from a window. Images showed thick smoke and flames billowing out of the top floor of three-storey hotel, popular with budget travellers. Accidental fires are common across India because of poor safety standards and lax enforcement of regulations. In December, six people were killed when a fire engulfed a hospital in Mumbai, the capital of western Maharashtra state. In … [Read more...] about At least nine dead in India hotel fire: official
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India splutters in anger after toilet water used for train tea
An Indian tea vendor caught on video taking water from a train toilet before selling his drinks to passengers has been fined amid heightened concern in India over food safety. Screengrabs from the video circulating on social media of the men carrying the cans out of the train toilet. The vendor on the Chennai-Hyderabad Express was caught after footage of him and two others coming out of a toilet with large cans used to serve tea and coffee on Indian trains was widely shared. Indian Railways said in a statement that the "incident has been inquired into in detail" and that the tea seller had been fined the equivalent of US$1,500. The video was made on a train at Secunderabad in Telangana state. Out of the three vendors seen only one was licensed. The vendor claimed the group were transferring milk from one can to another and did not want to do it in the open. "The very fact that tea/coffee cans were seen being brought out of the toilet, is in itself a wrong practice," the … [Read more...] about India splutters in anger after toilet water used for train tea
Six hotels in Asia with spooky reputations – and the stories behind them
A scene from the Thai horror film Shutter. Not recommended for late-night viewing when travelling alone. (Photo source: Shutter) Hotels are an integral component of travel. A perfectly wonderful vacation could be ruined by a stay at a fleabag bed-and-breakfast with fraudulently gorgeous photos on its website. Sometimes, traffic from the street through non-doubled-glazed windows keeps you up at night. And other times, the thing keeping you up used to have a pulse and is now going bump, bump, bump in the night right there in your room. We’ve all heard about supposedly “haunted” hotels. Stories of lights switching on by themselves, an uneasy feeling of being watched, footsteps that stop at the bed, blink-and-you-miss sightings along the corridor... Basically, enough material for a Thai horror movie or two. Some of us, who are sceptics, shrug off these tall tales as nonsense. Others are habitually superstitious, knocking on every hotel room door before stepping in. And … [Read more...] about Six hotels in Asia with spooky reputations – and the stories behind them
6 hotels in Asia with spooky reputations – and the stories behind them
A scene from the Thai horror film Shutter. Not recommended for late-night viewing when travelling alone. (Photo source: Shutter) Hotels are an integral component of travel. A perfectly wonderful vacation could be ruined by a stay at a fleabag bed-and-breakfast with fraudulently gorgeous photos on its website. Sometimes, traffic from the street through non-doubled-glazed windows keeps you up at night. And other times, the thing keeping you up used to have a pulse and is now going bump, bump, bump in the night right there in your room. We’ve all heard about supposedly “haunted” hotels. Stories of lights switching on by themselves, an uneasy feeling of being watched, footsteps that stop at the bed, blink-and-you-miss sightings along the corridor... Basically, enough material for a Thai horror movie or two. Some of us, who are sceptics, shrug off these tall tales as nonsense. Others are habitually superstitious, knocking on every hotel room door before stepping in. And … [Read more...] about 6 hotels in Asia with spooky reputations – and the stories behind them
Hotel collapse in central India kills 10, two injured
Ten people were killed and two were injured when a four-storey hotel collapsed in a crowded part of the central Indian city of Indore late on Saturday (Mar 31), a local police official said. Images from the scene in Indore showed battered and bloodied corpses being pulled from twisted piles of brick and concrete AFP/- Rescue operations were complete and no other casualties were likely, assistant sub-inspector Ramesh Kirade told Reuters by telephone. The near century-old structure collapsed after a driver lost control of his car and struck a pillar holding the structure up, said police deputy inspector general Harinarayanchari Mishra. "The impact was such that the entire building collapsed," he told AFP. "Rescue workers pulled out 12 people from the rubble, 10 of them were already dead. The other two are being treated in hospital." Images from the scene showed battered and bloodied corpses being pulled from twisted piles of brick and concrete. The rubble was being cleared with … [Read more...] about Hotel collapse in central India kills 10, two injured