No word on when Monte Carlo will reopen
29th January, 2008
The Monte Carlo casino hotel will remained closed for the foreseeable future while fire officials assess the damage caused by last Friday's dramatic blaze, it has been confirmed.
Officials have declined to give an estimate of when the Las Vegas hotel can resume business, insisting that due time must be allowed for them to secure the 32-story building and establish the caused of the fire.
Asked when the popular casino might again be open to the gambling public, chief building inspector Ron Lynn simply said: "I can tell you that it won't be tomorrow."
Some 120 firefighters descended on the landmark hotel Friday morning as American news channels broadcast live footage of flames licking out of the building and thick black smoke billowing skyward.
All guests and residents at the 3,000-room hotel were promptly evacuated by hotel workers - eight of whom later had to be treated for smoke inhalation and have since received warm praise for their potentially-lifesaving efforts.
The Monte Carlo is the 13th largest hotel in Las Vegas, boasting a massive 102,197 sq f casino with some 1,650 separate slot machines.
