Fire gutted the three-storey Luxury Hotel in Kimironko, Kigali yesterday, destroying property worth millions.

The fire started at 1:45 pm seriously destroying the hotel’s upper part.

The management of the hotel said the fire might have been started by a short-circuit, with the exact cause still unknown.

The hotel Manager, Egide Ruhashya, said they were alerted by one of the waiters who was leaning against the window and within a minute they saw flames in the upper floor.

‘’It was about 1:45 pm when one of the hotel waiters shouted out fire, fire! … We came running to see what was happening and found the hotel burning. I immediately called the police for help and in no more than 20 minutes they arrived,” he said.

He said within about 5 minutes the fire had spread to different parts of the hotel.

"Before police arrived we struggled to rescue some materials but failed as it was already consumed by the fire,’’ Ruhashya narrated.

He noted that the fire was exacerbated by the fact that the hotel had combustible ceilings.

Police intervened and tried to put out the fire but could not salvage much because it had already been destroyed.

Ruhashya said they could not immediately quantify the loss but said many valuable items were lost.

He, said, however, that the hotel was insured against fire.

The spokesperson of Rwanda National Police in the City of Kigali, Modest Mbabazi, said investigations on the cause of the fire were ongoing. He advised people to call the police in time in case of danger for quick intervention.

Fire outbreaks were the most frequent disasters to happen in 2014 whereby 77 cases were registered.

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