In New Delhi on Wednesday, a fire swept through a hotel in a densely populated part of the city. At least 21 people were killed, and dozens more were injured.
The Delhi Fire Service said it received a call at 8:48 a.m. local time from the Flourish Stay B&B in Malviya Nagar, in the southern part of the capital. Eight fire engines were sent to the scene.
Police and emergency medical workers also joined the response. More than 40 people were rescued. The fire was extinguished, and survivors were taken to nearby hospitals. The cause of the blaze is not yet known.
Istkhar Ahmad, a 49-year-old driver who has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years, said he saw the fire at about 8:30 a.m. Firefighters, he said, arrived about half an hour later.
“I saw a small fire in the guesthouse, and it looked like it started in the kitchen,” he said. “Then we saw people upstairs crying and trying to break the windows.”
By the time rescuers arrived, Ahmad said, the fire had engulfed the entire building. He and other witnesses tried to spread bed sheets and blankets below the windows to soften the fall of those who decided to jump. He estimated that about 10 to 12 people did so. Ahmad said most of them were Nigerians.
Several private hospitals are located on major roads around the dense residential area. Many of their patients come from other countries. In India, they are known as medical tourists: Afghans, Uzbeks and people from African countries travel there for more affordable treatment that is unavailable at home.
Earlier this year, a series of incidents had already drawn attention to unsafe housing conditions in the Indian capital. On May 30, less than a mile from the site of the fire, a building collapsed, killing six people.