Top Tennis Stars Flee Fire Horror

Three people died when a fire broke out early yesterday morning in one of Rome's plushest hotels where international tennis stars were staying ahead of a tournament this week.

As thick smoke spread through the Parco dei Principi hotel in Parioli, Rome's equivalent of Knightsbridge, guests in pyjamas ran into the street and on to the building's roof and balconies. Five were taken to hospital and others recovered from the shock wrapped in yellow blankets in the street.

American James Lawery, 57, was killed after falling as he tried to climb from his smoke-filled fifth-floor room on a rope of knotted sheets. A Canadian couple in their sixties, Paul Emile and Bernice Mary Joan Busque, died after trying to seal themselves inside their windowless bathroom.

The five-star hotel, in an elite embassy district, is described by tourism authorities as an example of 'excellence in Rome's hospitality system'. A single room is €400 a night and it specialises in high-level conferences and sporting delegations. US Vice-President Dick Cheney stayed there two months' ago.

Yesterday, the building, which is filled with sumptuous gold-painted furniture and thick pile carpets, was still smouldering.

International tennis players had been staying there for the Rome Open Tennis Masters. None of the stars was reported injured, but many were in shock, still reeking of smoke as they told of their ordeal and mourning tennis rackets lost in the blaze.

US star Andy Roddick was staying on the top floor and lost everything, as did Max Mirnyi from Belarus. Tim Henman, who arrived in Rome on Friday but chose a different hotel, said that Mirnyi was left with just a towel.

'We just decided to stay somewhere that could accommodate us,' Henman told The Observer. 'We were all very lucky. It was Friday night, so not many of the main draw players were here. Imagine if it had been Sunday night? The hotel would have been packed. It could have been so much worse.'

The cause of the fire was not clear. Two young American girls who had arrived drunk at the hotel at 5am were questioned by police but later released. According to firefighters, the blaze started in room 305, and spread across the landing into room 322 after its two Italian tennis-player occupants fled, leaving the door open. The flames rapidly devoured much of the third and fourth floors. Guests on the top floor were forced to escape via the roof.

A news agency quoted staff member Antonello D'Arielli as saying he had seen the two Americans leaving room 305 shortly after the fire alarm started ringing. Police questioned the women and US consular services confirmed that they had been contacted by the authorities over their possible involvement.