Grand Mauritian: there were no casualties

No reservation will be made and the hotel is collaborating with the authorities to investigate the cause of fire.

The 120 guests and the new arrivals have been transferred to other hotels as well as the resort’s sister property Le Méridien Ile Maurice. According to the communiqué it is not clear when the hotel will be operational.

According to the police, the hotel has suffered damage worth Rs 800 million which was caused by bush fire on a plot of unoccupied land located near the hotel. The fire had originated from a land owned by a sugar estate.

However, the news remains to be confirmed, according to the source of information.

According to a taxi driver, the hotel was their only source of income and from Friday the hotel was filled to capacity.

He explained, “It was good business for us but now we don’t know what to do since the hotel won’t give us anything. Our future looks bleak.” He also added that 75 per cent of taxi drivers have purchased new cars on loans and some of them even acquired cars like BMW and Mercedes worth Rs 1.8 million.

He also explained that when the fire erupted, they carried tourists for free to other hotels. They are planning to submit a request to the National Transport Authority (NTA) so that they could be transferred to other hotels in the island.