At least 21 people have died in a fire that engulfed a hotel in Delhi's Malviya Nagar area on Wednesday morning. The blaze broke out at the Flourish Stays hotel, which housed a restaurant on the ground floor and 25 rooms occupied mainly by families of patients at a nearby hospital.
Eyewitnesses reported that some victims, including women holding children, jumped from upper floors to escape the flames but did not survive the impact. Local residents criticised the fire department's response time, saying fire engines arrived at least an hour after the fire started.
Police said around 40 people were rescued and taken to hospitals in South Delhi. As of Wednesday afternoon, 15 victims were in intensive care and eight were on ventilators. The cause of the fire is suspected to be linked to the ground-floor restaurant, according to local administration official Jitendra Kumar.
Among the dead were foreign nationals who had travelled to Delhi for medical treatment. A Bangladeshi national staying at the hotel described how his brother narrowly escaped the fire, but their passports, documents and cash were lost. Volunteers at the scene helped rescue efforts, laying mattresses for people to jump onto and performing CPR on unconscious victims.
Former local lawmaker Somnath Bharti criticised the emergency response, saying more lives could have been saved. The hotel had only one entrance, complicating evacuation. Delhi police have launched an investigation into the incident.
