500 evacuated in fire at Singapore hotel; no injuries

SINGAPORE – Officials say about 500 people were evacuated during a fire at a luxury hotel in Singapore, but there were no reports of injuries.

Smoke billowed out of the Grand Hyatt hotel in the Orchard Road shopping district. Guests, passers-by and staff, including some wearing chef hats, gasped as they watched from a distance away.

The Singapore Civil Defense Force said the fire started in the kitchen of a restaurant on the hotel's second floor. It said water sprinklers extinguished the blaze before firefighters arrived.

"There were no reported injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation," it said.

Last month, about 1,000 guests and staff were evacuated when a switch room caught fire at another Singapore hotel. There were no injuries.