Fire revives memories of deadly blazes, 33 years apart

New Delhi: Wednesday’s catastrophic fire at a south Delhi B&B facility has resurrected the terrifying ghosts of the capital’s past, rekindling memories of two deadly hotel infernos reported 33 years apart – the 2019 blaze that engulfed the four-storey Arpit Palace Hotel in Karol Bagh and the devastating 1986 fire at the nine-storey Siddharth Continental Hotel in Vasant Vihar.

Both disasters struck in the dead of night, catching sleeping guests completely off-guard and exposing the grim reality that three decades of urban growth had done little to change the fatal traps buried within the city’s commercial highrises. Wednesday’s blaze has put a fresh stamp on it.

It was just after 2am on Jan 23, 1986, when panic gripped Siddharth Hotel. A fire, later attributed to the accidental combustion of LPG, had broken out in the Mandala banquet hall located in the basement. Within minutes, thick smoke and raging flames snaked upwards, engulfing the lower floors and cutting off evacuation paths.

The hotel was packed with international tourists and Indian corporate executives. Desperate to escape, some occupants tried to lower themselves from upper windows using makeshift ropes tied from bedsheets and linens, only to plummet when the knots gave way under their weight. Others managed to survive by barricading themselves in bathrooms and hiding inside filled bathtubs. Three people jumped to their deaths from windows.

When the embers cooled at Siddharth Hotel, 38 people were dead and 41 others injured. The disaster carried a heavy international toll, claiming the lives of 23 foreign nationals. Among the dead were tourists and diplomats from the US, Japan, France, Russia, Australia and Pakistan. These included West German diplomat Guenter Gerlach and his wife, who were discovered dead in their beds, and an Argentine diplomat. Indian casualties included senior officials from Rourkela Steel Plant and Kirlosker Group, as well as a Maruti executive. Identifying the bodies was a nightmare because the hotel’s guest registers had been completely gutted in the fire.

Fast forward 33 years to Feb 12, 2019. At 4.30am, a massive blaze erupted at Arpit Palace Hotel in the congested commercial hub of Karol Bagh. Originating from room 109 on the first floor due to a suspected short-circuit in an air-conditioner, the fire rapidly spread through the building’s AC ducts. Widespread wooden panelling and inflammable materials on the walls and ceilings acted as immediate fuel, filling the narrow corridors with toxic, choking smoke.

Just like in 1986, the guest registry was instantly destroyed, and most of the 60 guests and 12 staff members were asleep or quickly rendered unconscious by carbon monoxide. In an echo of the past, three people leaped from the upper floors to escape the heat, falling to their deaths.

The Arpit Palace fire claimed 17 lives and injured more than two dozen people. The victims, many of whom were in town to attend the Petrotech event, included two Myanmar nationals, an IRS officer, two HPCL officials and three members of a family from Kerala. While Delhi Fire Service pressed 22 fire tenders into service and rescued 35 people during a gruelling four-hour operation, the systemic failures on the ground matched the 1986 tragedy point for point.

The structural similarities between the two tragedies reveal a deeply troubling lack of progress in municipal safety enforcement. In both instances, the primary cause of death was asphyxiation rather than direct burns, as toxic smoke trapped victims inside their rooms. Both rescue operations suffered immediate setbacks due to catastrophic electricity failures. And in both cases, the victims found the terrace and emergency exits locked.

In 2005, a court acquitted the accused in the first case — security inspector, lobby manager and the hotel management who had been named in the chargesheet — after concluding that the fire at Arpit Palace Hotel was due to accidental combustion of LPG. In 2013, Delhi HC upheld the acquittals. The trial in the other case is ongoing. Wednesday marks the beginning of yet another legal action that is likely to continue for years to come.