Hotel fire in Georgia’s Black Sea resort; 11 Dead!!!

Batumi is around 360km from Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.

The Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has diverted his plane from an EU summit to travel to the scene of the disaster.

A huge fire at a luxury hotel in the Georgian Black Sea resort city of Batumi left 11 people dead and 21 others hurt, officials say.

The fire erupted late Friday evening at the Leogrand hotel where participants in the Miss Georgia 2017 beauty pageant were having dinner, Russia’s TASS news agency quoted the Georgian Interior Ministry as saying.

“Unfortunately, 11 people were killed and 19 were injured in a fire,” Georgia’s Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia said.

All 20 participants escaped unhurt using a fire escape ladder, it said. At least 100 other guests and employees also escaped.

Officials revised their death figure down from 12.

All the victims died from inhaling fumes regional health minister Zaal Mikeladze said, the BBC reported.

Those hurt included one Israeli and 12 Turkish nationals.

According to the BBC, 10 Georgians were killed and one Iranian.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

In a Facebook post Mr Kvirikashvili offered condolences to those affected by the fire and promised to investigate its cause.