Varanasi boys’ Lucknow trip ends up in smoke

What was supposed to be a brief excursion turned into a tormenting experience for a group of 10 youngsters from Varanasi.
Just hours after checking into two rooms at Balaji Hotel at Charbagh the previous night, the group of students woke up on Sunday morning to find themselves trapped in a fire and gasping for breath. “We were just waking up and getting ready when we heard noises. When we opened the door, we could only smoke, which engulfed our small rooms within a few minutes,” said Md Azam, 18.
Among those rescued were Azam, Waris, Afzal, Faizan, Amil, Imran, Saif, Sahil, Saifi and Ishtiyaq, all of whom are between 18 and 20 years old and hail from Varanasi, fire officials said.
“We felt helpless as we could not see the stairs leading to the ground floor. There were no other exits as well,” said Afzal, adding they had paid ₹2,500 for each room on the third floor.
“We’re gasping and some of us even fell unconscious when the fire team arrived and rescued us,” recalled Ishtiyaq.
The students said although they lost some of their belongings to the fire, they felt lucky to be rescued in time. “It took us about 30 minutes to get better. Now we’re leaving for home,” Saif said over phone from the Charbagh railway station.