A fire has engulfed the top floor of the luxury Ritz hotel in Paris, which is currently closed to the public and in the final stages of a refurbishment.
Firefighters were called to the scene at 6am. They confirmed there were no casualties because the hotel was empty during building work. A large part of the building had been affected, firefighters said.
The blaze was on the “top floor of the building and the roof”, a fire service spokesman said. Drivers were advised to avoid the Place Vendôme, where the hotel is situated.
The Ritz, owned by the businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, closed to the public in 2012 for a €200m (£150m) refurbishment. The four-storey classically styled building – a favourite of Charlie Chaplin, Coco Chanel and Ernest Hemingway, who had a bar named after him – had not been refurbished for years and faced strong competition from the growing number of new luxury hotels across the city. After a full refit it had been due to to reopen this year.
Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed dined at the hotel before their fatal car crash in 1997. After they left room 101 – the imperial suite – and exited by the hotel’s service entrance, their Mercedes crashed after trying to escape the paparazzi.
In 2012, people were treated for smoke inhalation after a blaze in an underground car park at the hotel.
