17 killed as fire breaks out in Karol Bagh hotel

Three of family from Kerala who came for wedding among the dead; magisterial probe ordered

In this frame grab provided by Shyamal Duary, flames rise from a hotel that caught fire in the early hours of the morning in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019. A fire engulfed a shoddily built budget hotel in central New Delhi early Tuesday, killing 17 people and injuring at least four others, including a woman from Myanmar who leaped from an upper floor to escape the flames, Indian authorities said. (UGC Photo via AP)

In a massive fire that broke out at the four-storey Hotel Arpit Palace in central Delhi’s Karol Bagh in the early hours of Tuesday, 17 people were killed, including three Myanmar nationals, and three sustained injuries. The fire started around 2.30 a.m. but the fire service was alerted two hours later. About 25 fire tenders were pressed into service as soon as the call was received, and 35 people were rescued.

While 15 of the dead, including three members of a family from Kerala, have been identified, the identity of two could not be ascertained till evening.

The fire is suspected to have started from the first floor and spread to the upper floors, mostly affecting the third and fourth floors and the rooftop where a restaurant was in operation.

An eyewitness who resides behind the hotel said that he saw people jumping from the windows to save themselves.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Sunil Chawdhary said: “We rescued about 35 people using the hydraulic lift after breaking the windows. The operation went on for nearly five hours,” he said.

All those pulled out were rushed to different hospitals including Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, B.L. Kapoor Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Doctors said most deaths were due to suffocation.

The dead identified are: Vidyasagar, 60, Nalini Amma, 84, and Jayashree, 53, from Kerala; Nanda Kumar, 35, and Arvind Sukumaran, 50, from Tamil Nadu; Pranav Kumar Bhaskar of Bihar, 32, EVS Chalapathi Rao, 52, — Andhra Pradesh, Dawlma May, 67, Tun Hla Sein, 32, and Mya Mya Htwe, 45, — Myanmar; Rabia Menon, 50, — Surat; Tara Ram, 42, — Uttarakhand; and Suresh Kumar, 42, — Panchkula, besides Dr. Santosh Mahadev, 35, and Dr. Shankar Narayan Sheshadri, 52. Three persons, Saumya Shrestha, 4, Beena, 50, and Chan Mya Mya Nyein sustained injuries.

Sources said the owners of the hotel, which was running since the early 90s, were in possession of a No Objection Certificate which was taken in December 2017 and was valid till December 2020. A North Delhi Municipal Corporation official said the building was erected illegally in the early 90s. “However, the entire structure is under protection up to 2020,” the official said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Mandeep Singh Randhawa said a case under sections 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the IPC has been registered. “Manager Rajendra and general manager Vikas have been arrested. Owner Shubhendu Goyal is absconding,” he said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced compensation of ₹5 lakh to families of the 17 victims and ordered a magisterial probe into the cause of fire and alleged building bye-law violations.