GIBRALTAR
Dozens were evacuated from the area after the blaze erupted at the hotel's service entrance last Sunday afternoon
02.01.15 - 11:38 -
The fire damaged both the ship and the neighbouring Leisure Island Business Centre. :: A. B.
An investigation is under way after a huge fire damaged the Sunborn Hotel and the Leisure Island Business Centre last Sunday afternoon in Gibraltar.
The blaze is believed to have started in the service entrance of the five-star hotel at Marina Bay.
Scores of people were evacuated from the hotel and the neighbouring building as well as from nearby bars in the area.
Emergency services were called to the scene at approximately 5.30pm after a member of the hotel’s staff spotted smoke coming from the ship.
Hundreds of onlookers gathered to watch the fire as emergency services tackled the blaze.
No one was injured during the incident and investigators from the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service and the Royal Gibraltar Police are now looking for clues as to how the fire started.
A spokesman from the fire and rescue service described the blaze as “serious”, but added that the cause of the fire is not yet confirmed.
The hotel’s owner, Hans Nieme, said that the damage was “superficial” and that repairs would start as soon as the investigation has finished.
The 189-room Sunborn Gibraltar opened in March 2014 and cost 150 million euros.
Located in Ocean Village Marina, the 142-metre-long ship has seven floors and is the first five-star hotel in Gibraltar.
