Dozens of tourists threw snowballs in a desperate attempt to extinguish a fire ripping through a hotel at a ski resort in Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir.

Footage shows the Pine Palace Platinum Hotel ablaze as tourists toss clumps of snow at the flames.

Onlookers said the flames reached 20 feet in the air before they started throwing snowballs in a last-ditch bid to control the blaze.

Fire crews later arrived to douse the towering flames. Several rooms on the top floor of the hotel were damaged.

Police said that all of the staff and guests escaped unharmed. They are now investigating the cause of the fire.

A Fire and Emergency Department spokesman said: "We have sent the men and machinery to the site, though given the intensity of the blaze, it may take time to put out the raging flames."

Residents threw snowballs at a burning hotel to try and control the fire at a ski resort in India on Wednesday evening.

Footage shows the frantic scene as flames ripped through the Pine Palace Platinum Hotel in Gulmarg, north Kasmir, on February 28.

Onlookers said the flames reached 20ft in the air before they started throwing snowballs in a last-ditch bid to control the blaze.

'You can see here the current state of the fire service, people are trying hard to extinguish the fire by throwing snowballs at the building,' a man can be heard saying in the video.

Fire crews later arrived to douse the towering flames. Several rooms on the top floor of the hotel were damaged.

Police said that all of the staff and guests escaped unharmed. They are now investigating the cause of the fire.

An Fire and Emergency Department spokesman said: 'We have sent the men and machinery to the site, though given the intensity of the blaze, it may take time to put out the raging flames.'