Fire Guts Zaranda Hotel In Bauchi

An early morning fire yesterday gutted the five-star Zaranda Hotel, Bauchi throwing guests and management into panic.

fireA workshop organized by the department for Continuing Education and Extension Services in conjunction with the National Commission for Mass Literacy Adult and Non-formal Education and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was taking place in the hotel.

Daily Sun correspondent gathered from eyewitness that the fire started from one of the rooms on the seventh floor of the 12-storey hotel. The eyewitness said the room from where the fire started had no guest at the time of the incident. A guest, who pleaded anonymity, said the fire started at about 7am and was quenched by the men of the fire service in the state. Efforts to reach the General Manager of the hotel, built by the Tatari Ali administration in 1980 to boost tourism, to comment on the incident proved abortive.

The Deputy Director, Balarabe Tata, Bauchi State Fire Service, said his men including himself and the director mobilised to the scene as soon as they received a distress call. Tata said his men, after much effort, were able to put out the fire, saying that no life was lost except for a minor injury suffered by one man. He said investigation was on to ravel the cause of the fire. Zaranda Hotel was renovated during the Under-17 FIFA World Cup hoisted by Nigeria in which Bauchi was one of the centres in 2009.