Three persons from Kolkata died and two were critically injured when a fire broke out at a hotel in Keonjhar district on Saturday.
The deceased have been identified as Arun Choudhury (45), Goutam Basu (51) and Mukesh Manginia (47). One of the injured has been identified as Samrudha Banerjee, but identity of another is yet to be ascertained. The three deceased had checked into the hotel at Barbil on Friday and were asleep when the fire broke out around 3 am and thick smoke filled the building.
The victims apparently failed to come out of the two-storey hotel building following the fire which was suspected to have erupted due to a short circuit.
Police and fire brigade personnel entered into the building after the blaze was extinguished, police said, adding three persons were declared dead, two were injured and undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital.
There were nine occupants in the hotel besides staff, who managed to come out safely.