Tourist is killed as fire rages at celebrity hotel
A HOLIDAYMAKER died yesterday in a fire that gutted a hotel loved by celebrities.
Footage shows tourists climbing down the outside walls and leaping from windows as the Sisu Boutique hotel in Marbella, Spain, goes up in flames.
Local reports claimed the man who died was French.
Ten other people were treated for smoke inhalation, with all but one discharged from hospital by last night.
Explosion
It is believed 100 guests were staying at the hotel in the upmarket resort of Puerto Banus, in the south-west corner of the city, when the blaze started in the early hours of yesterday.
A plume of black smoke could be seen for miles.The cause is being investigated.
Three years ago the building suffered damage when an arsonist set fire to it and threw a hand grenade inside.
Yesterday’s blaze was described as “Dantesque” by one witness.
The witness added: “People were telling firefighters they were going to jump. The fire crews used water from their hoses to cool the facade of the building and get guests to hold on longer so they could bring them down with ladders.”
The hotel was in the celebrity spotlight a few years ago when members of UK reality TV show The Only Way Is Essex made it a favourite haunt.
Among regular guests were ex-Coronation Street actress Michelle Keegan, 33, and her husband Mark Wright, also 33, who has appeared in Strictly.
Big-name footballers have also been pictured at the swanky venue.
CCTV from the March 2017 attack showed a man dousing a bar with accelerant before setting light to the hotel.
He then calmly took the safety clip off a grenade and tossed it into the air before fleeing the scene ahead of the explosion.
Hotel owner Neil Acland said at the time it was a failed attempt to stop the hotel opening for the summer season.