At least 12 people have lost their lives and nearly a dozen more sustained injuries after a raging fire broke through a luxury hotel in Georgia's Black Sea resort city of Batumi, officials say.
“Twelve people died of carbon monoxide intoxication” at the 22-storey Leogrand Hotel, the regional health minister, Zaal Mikeladze, said at a press conference on Friday night, a few hours after the incident took place in Georgia's second-largest city.
He further said that 10 more people had been hospitalized, most of whom with smoke inhalation injuries.
“They all are in a stable condition,” Mikeladze noted, adding that the cause of the inferno was still under investigation.
According to a statement by the regional interior ministry, 16 fire engines and 100 firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze that broke out in the hotel's spa center.
The ministry also reported that more than 100 people, including guests and staff, had already been evacuated from the hotel.
Reports said that Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia and Deputy Healthcare Minister Zaza Sopromadze had left for Batumi upon the news of the deadly blaze.