Vishal Kumar sustained injuries from jumping off the first floor of the hotel.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement, The Hindu
A day after the fire at a B&B facility in Malviya Nagar claimed 21 lives and injured several people, survivors undergoing treatment in different hospitals recounted the moments that are now etched in their memories when they escaped the building by jumping from windows as smoke spread through the premises, escaping the deadly fire.For 20-year-old Habib, a Bangladeshi national admitted to Max Hospital, the concern is no longer just his injuries. Doctors have told him that the injuries near his liver may affect his ability to donate part of it to his father, who is admitted to the same hospital and is awaiting a liver transplant – the surgery plan which led him and his family to India.“My father is in critical condition. I had completed all my tests for the liver transplant and the reports were fine. The surgery could have happened in a few days,” he said from his hospital bed.Mr. Habib had travelled to India for the first time along with four family members. His mother, 51-year-old Umma Salma, is also admitted at Max Hospital; she lies in the bed opposite to him in an ICU unit, while his sister Aarmin Jaman, 25, and uncle, Mohd Shahidul Islam, 48, are being treated at AIIMS Trauma Centre for leg fractures.Recalling the incident, Habib said his uncle was the only one awake when screams were first heard on the second floor, where they were staying in a room.“When we opened the door, smoke threw us back on the floor. We ran to the bathroom, trying to break the window and jumped one by one. We climbed down using pipes and wires. When we landed, broken glass pierced our hands and legs,” he said.The family lost consciousness after the fall and could contact relatives only later in the evening. Habib said his father is still unaware that several family members were injured. Groaning with pain with every body movement, Ms. Salma said the mental trauma outweighed the physical injuries for her. “There were no other stairs. All of this is negligence. We jumped because we had no choice. I will never stay in a hotel again,” she said.The family had initially planned to stay at another hotel in Saket’s Paryavaran Complex but shifted to the B&B at the last moment, paying around ₹2,000 per night, Mr. Habib said. While he and his mother secured her passport, Ms. Salma jumped with a purse; the other passports were left in the room.In the same ward, 29-year-old Vishal Kumar is recovering from injuries sustained after breaking open a jammed window on the first floor to escape. He has been repeating his story of courageously breaking the window panel to all friends and family who heard the news over the call. “I had just woken up. As soon as the smoke entered the room, I immediately started coughing. I picked up my phone and some cash and tried to break the window. I shouted for mattresses but nobody could hear me,” he said. After managing to break the window, Mr. Kumar jumped onto broken glass below, suffering injuries to his hand and a minor spinal fracture.“I called my mother and told her about my condition. After that, I fell unconscious. I don’t know who brought me to the hospital,” he said. A garment businessman living in Ludhiana, Mr. Kumar had come to Delhi for a 10-day physiotherapy treatment. By Wednesday evening, his wife, mother, brother and one-and-a-half-year-old daughter had reached Delhi to be with him.“My wife couldn’t stop thanking God that I survived,” he said. Meanwhile, in another wing, 62-year-old Isaac, a Nigerian national, is recovering from injuries suffered after jumping from the third floor. His wife, who was also injured in the incident, died on Wednesday night. The couple had travelled to Delhi for Isaac’s medical treatment. Hospital staff said he has spoken very little since regaining consciousness and learning about his wife’s death. “He has not been speaking much since he came to know about it,” an attendant at the hospital said. Published - June 05, 2026 10:24 am IST
