Frenchman dies, 9 injured in luxury hotel inferno in Spain

MADRID – A French tourist died in a fire at a luxury hotel in southern Spain and nine other people were injured Friday while trying to escape the flames, police said.

Video footage shared on social media showed people escaping the fire at the Sisu Boutique Hotel in Puerto Banus, Marbella, through windows and climbing down several stories of the building’s lattice facade.

It took more than three hours to extinguish the raging blaze, which broke out at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT), Malaga province’s civil protection agency said.

A National Police spokeswoman in the province confirmed that the only victim was a Frenchman who was staying at the hotel. The officer wasn’t authorized to be named in media reports.

Around 100 guests and employees were evacuated from the hotel as well as residents from a nearby building, authorities said.