Karol Bagh hotel blaze kills 17

Wedding party members among victims, 3 jump from roof to escape, one survives

A fire suspected to have been triggered by an electrical short circuit engulfed a budget hotel in New Delhi’s dense Karol Bagh neighbourhood on Tuesday, killing at least 17 people, including two who tried to escape from the blaze by jumping off the five-storey building, the police said. Three people were injured, including a woman from Myanmar who too jumped to escape the fire.

The fire department, which received a call for help at 4.35am, said the fire had broken out an hour earlier and the delay in alerting the authorities led to the large number of deaths. Another delay took place when the firefighting unit that first responded to the alert carried a manual ladder, which was not long enough to reach the top floor of the hotel, an official said. A hydraulic skylift was later used to rescue the trapped guests and staff.

Sixteen guests and the chef died. Three of those killed in the fire at the hotel, Arpit Palace, were members of a family from Kerala that was in Delhi to attend a wedding. Delhi home minister Satyendar Jain, who visited the site, said most deaths were the result of suffocation.

Dozens of guests and hotel staffers were trapped inside the building once the blaze began, even as at least three of them – an Indian Revenue Service officer, the Myanmar tourist and the chef – jumped from the top floor and the roof of the building. Only the tourist survived, the police said.

Of the 17 fatalities, two died of severe burns and the rest of asphyxiation, said Atul Garg, chief fire officer, Delhi Fire Services.

Although the building had a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Delhi Fire Services, safety norms were violated after the document was issued, Garg said. “When we inspected the hotel in December 2017, the roof was sealed to obtain the NOC. Later, they demolished the wall and began operating a restaurant from the rooftop,” he said.

While the fire department and a few staff members of the hotel said that a kitchen-cum-restaurant was operating from the rooftop, North Municipal Corporation of Delhi officials denied it. Photographs of the burnt roof, covered by a fibre sheet, showed tables, benches and chairs laid out.

Fire officials say wooden flooring and wall panels helped the fire spread quickly and blocked the hotel corridors

BIPLOV BHUYAN/HT PHOTO Locals and police personnel take a look at the gutted rooftop of Hotel Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh on Tuesday. The blaze is suspected to have been caused by a short-circuit in the air-conditioner in one of the rooms.

Illustration: GAJANAN NIRPHALE Some people jump off the top floor and terrace, others rescued by fire officials through skylift. By the time fire tenders reach, the fire spreads to entire building. Guests are trapped inside rooms. A suspected short circuit triggers fire. Hotel staff try to douse it. Inform fire department an hour later.