Hotel fire kills 14 in India

A fire apparently raged through a hotel in Kashmir, killing 14 people and injuring 12, Indian Police said today.

The blaze on Friday night occurred in the New Light hotel in Sopore, 33 miles north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, said Ashok Bhan, the state’s inspector-general of police.

The bodies were removed from the building after the fire was put out by authorities, Bhan said.

’’The fire seems to have been caused by either an electrical short circuit or the bursting of a cooking gas cylinder,’’ Bhan said.

He ruled out the possibility of sabotage by Islamic guerrillas, who have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 to separate Kashmir from India.

The victims were traders from different northern Indian states who had travelled to the area for work, officials said.