Four tourists hospitalized in hotel fire in southern Turkey

Four Russian tourists have been hospitalized after a fire broke out in a hotel in the Mediterranean resort town of Kemer.

The four were among a large number of tourists vacationing in the Mediterranean province of Antalya that were exposed to excess smoke from the fire that erupted in the sauna of Kemer's Stardust Beach Hotel at around 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 19.  

Medical staff, firefighters and gendarmerie forces were dispatched to the hotel as smoke quickly spread to all floors of the three-story premises. 

Firefighters rescued tourists marooned on the upper floors and elsewhere inside the hotel using an aerial ladder before extinguishing the fire, while gendarmerie forces took security measures around the building.

Some of the tourists exposed to the smoke were provided outpatient treatment by medical staff. 

Guests at the hotel were evacuated and taken to the amphitheater of another hotel nearby while firefighters doused the flames.

Firefighters and gendarmerie forces have started an investigation into the cause of the blaze.