New Delhi [India], June 3 (ANI): A devastating fire tore through a bed-and-breakfast establishment in South Delhi's congested Malviya Nagar neighbourhood early Wednesday morning, killing at least 21 people, including 17 foreign nationals, and injuring dozens more.
A team of Delhi Police officials on Wednesday reached the residence of Lovkesh Bajaj, the co-owner of Hotel Flourish Stays, where a massive fire broke out and claimed the lives of 21 people, after preliminary inquiries exposed egregious violations of building and fire safety codes.
The police visit to the co-owner's residence comes as part of a rapidly widening investigation into the devastating fire at a hotel in Delhi's Malviya Nagar, with the police looking into potential lapses in fire safety norms, structural clearances, and emergency evacuation protocols at the property.
The Delhi Police had formed multiple teams to trace the hotel owner and conducted raids in different parts of the national capital.
According to officials, the hotel, where the fire broke out, had permission to operate only six rooms under the bed-and-breakfast (B&B) scheme. However, the owner had allegedly constructed 25 rooms on the premises. Another nearby establishment, Green Residency Hotel, located around 100 metres away, had permission for only six rooms but was allegedly operating 28 rooms.
As per the preliminary findings by the Delhi Fire Services, suggest that the fire may have originated near the staircase on the ground floor, where some material was kept that is suspected to be the point of origin of the blaze that later continued to spread rapidly through the building.
Officials stated that the exact nature of the material and the precise cause of the fire can only be established after a detailed forensic investigation.
Sources further said all windows in the building were allegedly sealed, leaving occupants with little or no means of escape once the fire intensified.
During rescue operations, firefighters also found LPG cylinders on the premises. However, preliminary findings indicate that the blaze may have started from material stored near the staircase before spreading across the building, sources added.
A comprehensive investigation, including forensic analysis, is underway to ascertain the exact sequence of events leading to the tragedy.
Meanwhile, the Former Delhi Fire Services Director Atul Garg termed the incident 'very unfortunate' and pointed to structural and civic challenges in the area.
'More than 22 people have died, and this is a very unfortunate incident. This is a very congested area where fire tenders cannot move easily. There is no water source available, and encroachments have made firefighting difficult. Many houses have only one staircase. A lot of smoke was there, and people did not get time to come out. That's the reason why so many people died. Since they had no NOC and other things, I think there were no safety measures available there,' Garg said.
Separately, BJP MLA from Malviya Nagar Satish Upadhyay asserted that, 'An inquiry will be conducted, and anyone who has broken norms and is responsible will be immediately arrested. Other B&Bs, hotels and guest houses that are not following protocols will be sealed.'
Against this backdrop, anguished family members of victims expressed frustration over delays in receiving information about their loved ones.
'Max Hospital said that 2-4 bodies are here, but no one tells us anything much more than that. We do not know the whereabouts of our loved ones. No one is trying to do anything here. We are very frustrated,' a victim's family member said.
At least 21 people, including 17 foreign nationals, were killed and more than 40 rescued after a massive fire broke out at Flourish Stay B&B in Malviya Nagar at around 8:48 am on Wednesday. (ANI)
