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Folkestone hotel fire: Sleeping guests evacuated as fire rips through hotel in overnight chaos
A US hotel guest said he was forced to leave the building via a fire escape at around 1:15am before hearing what he believed were “a couple of explosions”.
Jeff Gardner, 44, said over a hundred people had rushed out of the hotel in the early hours of the morning, with many left watiting for hours before being given somewhere to stay.
Mr Gardner, who is from Texas, was staying at the hotel as part of an ancestry trip, where he was visiting places connected to the results of his DNA test. The fire broke out on the first night of his two-night stay.
He said he saw “grey smoke that turned blacker,” and heard “a couple of explosions” which he assumed were cars or gas tanks blowing up.
Describing how some guests had been forced to leave the hotel without being fully dressed, he said: “Some people in pyjamas and one guy just had some sweatpants on,” he said. At least I got my clothes. I didn’t get my bag. I don’t have my passport.”
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