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NEW DELHI: A fire ripped through a bed-and-breakfast (B&B) facility in New Delhi on Wednesday and killed at least 21 people, many of them foreign nationals, police and local media said.
Indian television channels showed flames leaping from the building and thick plumes of black smoke rising into the sky. People trapped on upper floors were seen jumping onto mattresses laid out below.
Building fires are common in India due to a lack of firefighting equipment and routine disregard for safety regulations. The cause of this latest fire was not immediately known.
It broke out in the morning at Flourish Stay, a bed-and-breakfast in a congested neighbourhood in the south of the city, Delhi Police said in a statement. “It is with profound sorrow that 21 persons have been declared dead in this tragic incident,” police said.
