Twenty-one people were killed in a tragic fire at a hotel in New Delhi on Wednesday, with six of the victims initially unrecognizable due to the severity of their injuries.
Authorities confirmed that six foreign nationals were among the dead. The victims were citizens of Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique, Liberia, Somalia, and Afghanistan.
The hotel, located in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar area near AIIMS Hospital, frequently accommodated guests visiting the city for medical treatment.
The fire reportedly started in a ground-floor restaurant at around 8:50 a.m. and quickly spread throughout the five-story building.
According to Zee News, the building did not possess a mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC) and had only a single, narrow emergency exit for the entire structure, leaving many occupants trapped as the fire spread. Heavy smoke engulfed the upper floors, preventing several guests from escaping.
Eyewitnesses said local residents placed mattresses on the street below the windows after seeing people forced to jump from the burning building. Some victims landed on the mattresses while suffering burn injuries. One foreigner reportedly reached the roof carrying a bag and waited there until rescue teams arrived.
Investigators revealed that the hotel had originally received permission to operate under the Bed and Breakfast scheme with only six rooms. However, it was functioning with 25 rooms. The approved building plan allowed for a ground floor and two upper floors, with three rooms on each floor. Instead, the structure had been expanded to five floors, with five rooms on each level.
The illegally expanded hotel had been operating for approximately 12 years before the tragedy occurred. During that period, no government department reportedly raised a formal objection, and no enforcement action was taken against the property.
The building’s single, narrow emergency exit became the only escape route for all occupants when the fire broke out, contributing significantly to the high death toll.
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