Nine wounded, one of whom in serious condition, are the toll of a fire that broke out following an explosion in a 5-star hotel in Avelengo, the Mirabell hotel in South Tyrol.

The hotel keeper, a 49-year-old Ukrainian who suffered burns all over his body and was transported by helicopter to the hospital in Bolzano and then transferred to the major burns department in Padua, got the worst of it.

The other injured - Italians, Swiss, Austrians and Albanians - are not serious and were taken to hospital in Merano with symptoms of smoke poisoning.

The explosion occurred for unclear reasons in a suite on the top floor of the modern and prestigious hotel. About one hundred volunteer firefighters from the area, the White Cross, the police and the helicopters Aiut Alpin Dolomites and Pelikan intervened to extinguish the fire which then flared up.

The accident occurred while the caretaker - it is learned - was recharging a bioethanol stove in the suite. After the explosion, the room caught fire within seconds.

(Unioneonline / vl)

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