LPG cylinder blast triggers blaze at hotel in Patancheru

Hyderabad: A fire broke out at a hotel near the Patancheru intersection in Sangareddy district early on Sunday after an LPG cylinder exploded due to a suspected leakage. Two people, both staff of the hotel, sustained minor injuries in the incident.According to fire officials, the blaze started in a small room of the old hotel building located beside the national highway. A preliminary investigation revealed that there was a gas leak in the kitchen area at a time when there was no power supply for cooking. "When electricity was restored, and a switch was turned on, a spark allegedly ignited the leaked gas, causing the fire to spread rapidly across the premises," said Nagendra, Patancheru station fire officer.Staff evacuatedHotel staff were safely evacuated after the management noticed the flames and alerted the fire department. Patancheru fire officials said they received the distress call around 6 am, following which a fire tender was rushed to the spot immediately. Firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control quickly and prevented it from spreading to nearby structures. Officials said the hotel management estimated the property loss at around 4.5 lakh.