17 die in Delhi hotel blaze
Some charred to death while sleeping; others asphyxiated by toxic fumes; emergency exit was locked
Seventeen people, many of them deep in sleep, were killed in a fire at a hotel in the congested Karol Bagh area early Tuesday morning. Some of the victims were charred to death while others were suffocated by the toxic fumes. A woman and a child were killed when they jumped off the fifth floor to escape the blaze.
There were 53 people in the 45-room six-storey Hotel Arpit Palace, which had a canopy on the terrace housing what appeared to be a restaurant. The hotel is popular with budget and business travellers; however, what made the escape hazardous was the wooden panelling in the narrow corridors. The hotel windows were jammed and it didn't have proper fire escapes either.
Union minister K J Alphons said the emergency exit of the hotel, was not only "too narrow" but also locked. "Obviously, even if people managed to reach the emergency exit, they could not have escaped as it was locked," he said.
A case has been registered against the owner of the hotel under several IPC sections, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The general manager and another employee of the hotel have also been arrested by the Delhi Police, which has now transferred the case to the crime branch.
The fire was brought under
control around 7 am by more than two dozen fire engines. Thirty-five people were rescued and those injured were taken to nearby hospitals. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who visited the location, said a magisterial inquiry had been ordered, which will also look into violations by other hotels in the area.
There was a clear case of negligence. Even though the law limits construction to four floors, the hotel had a fifth and sixth floor with a canopy that housed a kitchen and dining area. It is located in a busy commercial centre criss-crossed by narrow alleys where electric wires dangle overhead.
The hotel was put up for auction by a state-run bank at a reserve price of Rs. 27 crore on December 31, 2018. (Input NDTV).