Fire at Luxury Spanish Hotel Kills Tourist, Injures 9 as Guests Rush to Balconies to Escape
The fire broke out early Friday morning at Sisu Boutique Hotel in the southern city of Marbella
A massive fire broke out at a luxury resort in Spain early Friday, killing a French tourist and injuring nine others who were forced to escape by climbing down the building’s façade, according to reports.
The blaze broke out around 6 a.m. at the Sisu Boutique Hotel in Puerto Banus, Marbella, a popular waterfront resort area in the country’s southern region, the Associated Press reported.
Approximately 100 guests and employees — as well as residents from a nearby building — were reportedly evacuated from the flames, which took more than three hours to extinguish.
Authorities said the victim was a male hotel guest from France who died while trying to escape, the AP reported.
Shocking videos shared to social media showed guests attempting to escape the flames and smoke by climbing out of their windows and down the exterior of the building.
“The exterior latticework of the hotel, made of wood, has allowed [guests] to go down the façade by their own means,” said Marbella Security Councillor José Eduardo Díaz, according to the Daily Mail.
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None of the injuries sustained are serious, and all but one person have been released from the hospital, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported, according to a translation.
“I want to thank the great work and quick action of the Marbella Fire Brigades and local police to control and put out the fire at Hotel Sisu,” Marbella Mayor Ángeles Muñoz wrote on Twitter. “Their professionalism has prevented the spread to neighboring [buildings].”
The cause of the blaze remains unknown, according to El Pais.
Sisu is a hotel popular with British celebrities, including The Only Way Is Essex’s Lauren Goodger and Lauren Pope, and comedian Abi Clarke, the Daily Mail reported.
A manager for the hotel did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.