Sera Navuga 
A massive fire tore through parts of the Capricorn Hotel in Nadi early this morning, leaving several rooms destroyed and guests scrambling to safety.
The blaze, which broke out around 1 am, forced the emergency evacuation of dozens of guests, many of whom were left waiting along the highway as firefighters battled the flames.
Hotel General Manager Rajnita Bhan says it was a devastating event, but she is thankful that no one was injured.
“It’s a very devastating and unfortunate set of events that happened early morning at 1 a.m. today. There was a fire that broke in. We are yet to determine the cause. We are grateful to the staff who were on duty; they acted quickly and managed to get all the guests out safely. Nobody got injured, nobody was harmed.”
Guests were temporarily accommodated at the nearby Hexagon Hotel with assistance from staff, while the National Fire Authority worked to contain the blaze with support from police.
However, one guest, Zaid Ali, an Australian visitor, described a chaotic evacuation and raised concerns about the hotel’s safety measures.
“We started smelling smoke, big smoke, around 1 o’clock in the morning. There are no fire alarms, and there are no smoke detectors. Smoke started filling our room, and we got out. I helped other people up, knocking the doors, smashing the windows to get them out.”
Ali says he and his partner lost all their belongings in the fire, but he remains thankful they survived the ordeal.
Investigations are now underway to determine the exact cause of the fire, which reportedly started at the back of the building.
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