Ghaziabad Banana Tree hotel fire, 18 rescued, no casualties

What happened

A fire broke out at the Banana Tree Hotel and Banquets in the Site-4 industrial area of Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, on Tuesday, 27 October 2026. Reports say it began on an upper floor at the back of the hotel, where renovation work was going on, and spread to 12 rooms. Eighteen people trapped in the smoke were brought out. No casualty was reported. The cause is not yet known. Checked 28 October 2026.

The fire control room got the call at about 1.30 pm, according to ETV Bharat and Urban Acres. The IANS report carried by Ommcom News says noon. Two fire tenders from Vaishali station went first, and more came from Sahibabad and Kotwali stations, nine tenders in all, with a hydraulic platform. The chief fire officer directed the operation.

How the rescue worked

Smoke made the rescue slow. One team went inside to bring the trapped people out while another worked on the flames from three sides of the building. Firefighters broke windows and set up exhaust fans to let the smoke out. They also used the hotel’s own fire-fighting system to lay hose lines, and carried water up the staircases to the burning floor. The fire was kept from spreading to the rest of the hotel, and the chief fire officer said everyone trapped was evacuated safely.

Where the reports disagree

• The floor: ETV Bharat and Urban Acres say an upper floor at the rear. Ommcom News and Haribhoomi say the fifth floor. Several television bulletins say three floors, and one local bulletin says the third floor. The reports do not settle it.
• People rescued: ETV Bharat, Ommcom News and Urban Acres say 18. The body of the Haribhoomi report says five were rescued from the upper portion although its headline says 18, and an early India TV headline said 20. Urban Acres’ first story said five before the count rose to 18.
• Time of the call: about 1.30 pm (ETV Bharat, Urban Acres, Haribhoomi) or noon (Ommcom News).
• Cause: the chief fire officer said it was not clear. Haribhoomi says a short circuit is suspected but not confirmed, and Patrika says there is no basis yet to blame a fault.
• Time to control: Haribhoomi says four tenders brought the fire under control in about an hour. The other reports speak of nine tenders and do not give a time.

The questions renovation raises

The IANS report says the work going on at the back of the hotel raises questions about safety arrangements and fire-fighting during renovation. We take that as a question and not a finding. Nothing reported says what work was being done, or whether the fire began in the work area for a reason connected to it. We do not know whether guests were staying on or near the floors being worked on, whether the hotel’s alarms rang, or whether the hotel held a fire no-objection certificate. None of that has been reported, and we will not guess.

For the fire rules that apply when a hotel keeps guests while work goes on, see our guide on renovation work in an occupied hotel.

Staying or working in Ghaziabad? Our Ghaziabad fire and emergency safety guide puts the emergency numbers and the main local fire risks on one page.

What you can do if you stay in a hotel

• Ask at check-in whether any part of the hotel is under renovation, and ask for a room well away from it and on a lower floor if you can.
• Walk to both exits from your room as soon as you check in, and count the doors. Keep your phone, key and shoes by the bed.
• If you smell smoke or the alarm rings, feel the door with the back of your hand. If it is cool, leave by the stairs, never the lift, and keep low. Our guide on escaping a smoke-filled room has the steps.
• If the corridor is full of smoke, stay in the room, shut the door and seal the gaps with wet towels. Call the front desk and then 101 or 112 and say your floor and room number. See how to call 112, 101 or 108.
• Hotel owners can keep renovation zones sealed off from guest floors and exits, keep hot work supervised, and check that alarms and the fire-fighting system stay working through the work. See our guide to an evacuation plan that works.

Hotel fires in India are often deadly when they happen at night with a single exit. Read the Malviya Nagar hotel fire in Delhi and the Kolkata Mirza Ghalib Street hotel fire to see how bad it can get. At Ghaziabad the fire came in daylight, and the fire service reached the guests while they could still be brought out.