Licensed for 6 rooms, running 25: Delhi's Malviya Nagar hotel fire kills 21, including several foreigners

NEW DELHI: Several foreign nationals were among the 21 people who lost their lives in the fire that swept through a hotel in Delhi's Malviya Nagar on Wednesday. Most of the victims were reportedly from Liberia, Nigeria, Mozambique and Bangladesh, officials said.

Police officials told PTI that the hotel had permission to operate only six rooms under the Delhi government's bed-and-breakfast policy. However, it was allegedly functioning with 25 rooms, including several that had been set up in the basement, they said.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress alleged serious lapses in the response of the fire department to the deadly blaze in Delhi's Malviya Nagar.

Former AAP MLA from Malviya Nagar, Somnath Bharti, claimed that fire tenders reached the spot nearly an hour after the fire broke out. The blaze engulfed the Flourish Stay bed-and-breakfast facility housed in a five-storey building in Hauz Rani, a densely populated locality in south Delhi.

"The rescue teams were dispatched, but the fire brigade, which should have arrived within a few minutes of the incident, reached almost an hour later, despite the station just three minutes away from the spot. Residents were extremely proactive. Because of their efforts, many lives were saved. We could have saved many more lives had the fire brigade arrived on time," Somnath Bharti said.

Saurabh Bharadwaj, AAP's Delhi president, said, "‌In the last three months, this is the third major fire incident where the government's negligence can be seen. In February, nine people were burned alive, and the fire brigade came, but its equipment did not work. It is criminal negligence on the part of the government."

Devender Yadav, president, Delhi Congress, said, "There is an absolute failure of the fire department in this case, and several other incidents have been reported in the past few days, but the government is not focusing on this. Before this, there were incidents in Palam and Vivek Vihar. There was only permission for 6 rooms, but around 20 rooms were here; there were grave lapses."

Eight Fire Victims on Ventilator Support, Critical Condition
Addressing a press conference, Max Healthcare Group Medical director Dr Sandeep Budhiraja said eight patients injured in the fire remain in critical condition and are currently on ventilator support.

"Eight patients are on ventilators and undergoing treatment. The majority of them have suffered from asphyxiation injuries, which are caused by smoke inhalation. All of them have minor burns, not deep burns. One patient had burns of more than 25 per cent. He was on a ventilator, so we shifted him to the burn ward at Safdarjung Hospital. Five patients were stable and came with minor injuries," Budhiraja said.

The doctor further said several patients suffered fractures after reportedly jumping from upper floors to escape the blaze.

(With agency inputs)