Two missing in Canadian hotel fire

PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Firefighters were searching for two missing people Wednesday in the burned-out remains of an old hotel in Prince George, British Columbia.

Alarms rang at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, and some 30 firefighters responded to the blaze at the three-story Columbus Hotel, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., reported. Because there was no sprinkler system or exterior fire escape from the third floor, firefighters used ladders to rescue six people, the report said.

The 88-year-old building was destroyed as the first and second stories collapsed before the fire was brought under control by noon, The Province newspaper in Vancouver reported.

One man was seriously injured and two others sustained lesser injuries, firefighters said.

Two unidentified people living in the hotel remained unaccounted for Wednesday, the CBC said.

The broadcaster said about 10 people on low incomes lived in the hotel, which also housed a strip club and bar, the report said.