Fire near Dwarka hotel; Dhoni, team evacuated

A short circuit had triggered the blaze

New Delhi : Workers carrying out cleaning after a fire broke out at a building comprising the hotel where the Jharkhand cricket team, including their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was staying, at Dwarka in New Delhi on Friday morning. The team was rescued safely from the hotel. PTI Photo by Vijay Verma (PTI3_17_2017_000111B)

At least 550 guests, including the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Jharkhand cricket team and Tamil Nadu cricket team, escaped unhurt on Friday after a fire broke out in a mall behind the hotel they were staying in Dwarka’s Sector 10.

According to the police, the fire broke out around 6 a.m. in the Reliance Trends showroom on the first floor of Pinnacle Mall due to a short circuit. The Fire Department was informed around 6.30 a.m. and its rescue team reached the hotel within five to eight minutes as the nearest fire station is about 3km away in Sector 6.

Smoke from the showroom reached the upper floors of the Welcome Hotel and the players who were staying there were evacuated along with other guests.

30 fire tenders called in

“This was a high-rise building so we sent special equipment. Initially, four fire tenders were sent but the officer in-charge requested for more aid. Eventually, 30 fire tenders were sent,” said Rajesh Pawar, Deputy Chief Fire Officer (South zone), Delhi Fire Service.

The rescue operation ended by 8.45 a.m.

An official of the Jharkhand team said he was on the 10th floor and was taking shower around 6.45 a.m. when he saw the smoke in his room. “I wore my clothes and went outside but couldn’t see anything till about 1 meter as the lobby was full of smoke,” he said and added that he shouted for help, after which a hotel staff found him and took him outside through the kitchen route. “All players were rescued by then. It was extremely suffocating,” he said.

‘Fire alarms failed’

The official told The Hindu that fire alarms didn’t ring at the hotel. “The alarms did not ring and people had no idea about the fire,” he said.

The hotel refrained from commenting on the matter but said in a statement: “A fire broke out in the shopping mall, adjacent to the hotel. We evacuated all our guests. There were no casualties at the hotel.”

Rubbishing the rumours about the players’ kits getting burnt, liaison officer with Jharkhand team Vivek Khurana said: “It’s impossible because they could not have been burnt by smoke. The kits were at the stadium because the players had a match that day.”