Hotel fire: 21 die in New Delhi blaze as other guests jump from upper floors

Firefighters and rescue personnel outside the five-storey Flourish Stay B&B, which was destroyed by fire. Photo / Hindustan Times via Getty Images

At least 21 people have been killed after a fire ripped through a hotel in New Delhi.

Guests jumped from the second and third floors of the Flourish Stay bed and breakfast in the south of the city during one of the deadliest blazes in the Indian capital in recent years.

Among the dead were 18 foreign nationals from Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique and Liberia, some of whom had flown to India for medical treatment, the Indian Express and other local media reported.

Delhi’s police force said in a statement: “It is with profound sorrow that 21 persons have been declared dead in this tragic incident”.

The force said search-and-rescue operations were continuing, with more than 40 people taken to hospital for treatment. Eight were in a critical condition, according to a hospital to which several of the injured were taken.

Indian television channels showed flames leaping from the building and thick plumes of black smoke rising into the sky.

Some 47 guests were in the hotel when the fire broke out, according to Satish Upadhyay, a local politician. Locals rushed to the scene as firefighters worked to douse the blaze and ambulances arrived to help treat the injured.

Some people trapped on the upper floors of the building jumped onto mattresses laid out by residents on the street outside, the Press Trust of India reported.

Some reports suggested the hotel had one door for entry and exit and lacked proper ventilation.

Upadhyay said: “An inquiry will be conducted, and anyone who has broken norms and is responsible will be immediately arrested”.

The blaze was brought under control with the help of eight fire engines, police said, adding that “all concerned agencies remain deployed at the spot to ensure every possible assistance to those affected”.

Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, called the incident “tragic”. In a statement on X, his office said: “My condolences to those who have lost their loved ones”.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

Electrical short circuits, often caused by poorly maintained wiring, remain the main cause of fires in India.

In March, a fire at a government-run hospital in eastern India killed 10 critically ill patients.

The last major fire in Delhi killed 43 factory workers sleeping in a building in the city’s old quarter in 2019.

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