A fire ravaged a motel in the New Jersey town of Point Pleasant early Friday, killing three people and injuring eight others as officials scrambled to get the blaze under control.
It's not yet clear how the fire started at Mariner's Cove Motor Inn, but
Point Pleasant Beach Police Capt. Robert Dikun told NJ.com that flames first ignited on the western side of the motel near a second-floor smoking lounge. Firefighters were called to the scene around 5:40 a.m. Friday.
Terrified patrons of the motel scurried to evacuate after people started yelling "Fire!" shortly after 5 a.m.
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"I looked outside, it was all smoke and flame," Shawn Wardell, a 22-year-old who was staying in a second-floor room with his 26-year-old brother and their grandparents, told NJ.com. "Probably 10, 15 minutes later, our motel room would have been up, too."
Dikun estimates that there were about 20 people staying in the motel, which was recently remodeled after sustaining damage from Hurricane Sandy.
Of the eight people that were injured, four were taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, while others were taken to Ocean Medical Center in Brick and a nearby urgent-care center, according to NJ.com.
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