Tourists in Bali caught in a devastating villa hotel fire have been recounting their frantic attempts to escape the inferno.
The fire that occurred on 25 July, Thursday night, destroyed 19
villas at the Villa Amasya complex in Seminyak. The fire spread quickly
through the thatched roofs of the villas.
Guests staying at the resort were forced to flee, many leaving behind passports and cash.
Resort staff won praise from guests for helping them to escape before
staying to douse the flames which spread quickly across the complex.
Jay Andrade, an Australia guest at Villa Amasya in Bali, took to
Facebook with his experience, recounting that a fire that broke out in
the nearby villa complex while his family was inside. His brother woke
up to the roof on fire, and their father was alerted by security. Jay,
across the road, was called to help and assisted security in evacuating
guests just in time. He expressed gratitude to the villa staff, locals,
and the Carla Day Spa for their help. Despite losing everything, he was
thankful no one was killed.
Another Australian woman told 9News she was forced to jump from her burning villa into the arms of people on the ground.
“The exit to go out to the main street was in between the villas – so
it was either run through the fire or find another way out,” she said.
“We were waving our phones, screaming ‘help, help, help’.
“These locals just came and basically, we jumped off the roof – four or five metres – and they caught us.”
Other guests recounted hearing fireworks in the vicinity of the
villas and speculated that embers from rockets may have drifted onto the
thatched roofs of the villas.