Alabama Motel Owner Sued Over Fire Deaths

A wrongful death lawsuit contends a Hoover motel owner and maintenance man are to blame for the deaths of four Mississippi college students in a fire earlier this month.

The lawsuit, filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court by by parents of two of the victims, seeks an unspecified amount of money for the deaths on Jan. 16 at a Days Inn in suburban Hoover.

Four students from the Mississippi University for Women had come to Birmingham to shop when fire engulfed the motel, trapping them in their room. Authorities said the motel was old and lacked a sprinkler system that could have suppressed the flames.

The lawsuit was filed by parents of Alondan “Angel” Turner and Catherine Ann Muse, 18-year-old cousins from Walker County. It names Papasha Inc., identified as the motel owner; Chris Parekh, a motel owner and the manager at the time of the fire; and maintenance man Dhirajlal Bhagat.

The fire also killed Jamelia Brown, 18, of Grenada, Miss.; and Jaslynn McGee, 19, of Corinth, Miss.

No charges have been filed in the fire, but Bhagat was taken into custody by immigration officials for overstaying a work permit by more than two years and could be deported to his native India.

Authorities have said the wood-frame motel, built in the 1960s before automatic sprinkler systems were required, lacked a fire suppression system that could have prevented the flames from spreading.

Investigators said they believe the fire began in a room occupied by Bhagat, who told authorities he lit incense and left the room before returning about 30 minutes later to find the structure ablaze.

The lawsuit contends that Bhagat “wasted precious time by attempting unsuccessfully to extinguish the fire himself” and failed to warn motel guests before the fire engulfed the motel and trapped the victims.