The causes of the fire that broke out on Monday morning in a hotel in Kalambaka and resulted in the death of the 55-year-old owner of the hotel, is being investigated by the Investigative Department of ELAS.

Sources say that initially a noise from the air conditioning system was heard and the fire started.

The 55-year-old owner of the hotel, in order to save himself, jumped from the first floor balcony and was taken to the Health Centre.

According to the fire department, 26 people were evacuated from the hotel, eight of whom were minors. Twelve people were taken to the Health Centre with respiratory problems.

At the scene, 26 firefighters with 8 vehicles operated on the scene, while a special ladder truck was also mobilized for the rescues.

A special rescue team was also deployed to assist with the rescue team.

“The man went to help people and got burnt”</h3 Meanwhile, the president of the Trikala Prefecture Hotel Association, Kostas Papapoulios, spoke to protothema.gr and said: “Unfortunately the owner of the hotel is dead. The man went to help people to save themselves and put out the fire but in the effort, he was burned himself and jumped from the balcony. When the ambulance picked him up from the scene the man was still alive but apparently succumbed to his injuries. As far as I know, the people who were staying at the hotel are all fine and we are now arranging their transfer to another hotel.”

“We are shocked”

Yannis Kouroupas a hotelier in Kalambaka said: “My hotel is close to this. I woke up at 7 am and saw thick black smoke coming out of the hotel located in the centre of Kalambaka. There was no flame but only thick smoke that filled almost all the rooms. Firefighters evacuated many guests We learned that at least people went to the hospital with respiratory problems. We also learned that our colleague and owner of the facility died. We are shocked!”