Karol Bagh Fire: A major fire broke out at at Hotel Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh in central Delhi.
Trapped by a raging inferno on the terrace of a hotel in central Delhi's Karol Bagh area, a man is seen dangling from railing, holding someone's hands. As witnesses gasp, he jumps off, hitting the building next to it. The police have confirmed that he is among the 17 killed after a fire swept through the Arpit Palace Hotel in a congested part of the capital. The video was recorded on cellphones by a witness.
Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain, who visited the hotel where the fire broke out in the early hours of the morning, said the government has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident to see if there were lapses on part of the management.
Mr Jain told reporters that he has also directed the fire department to inspect buildings which are five floors or more and submit a report on their fire safety compliance within a week.
Hotel Arpit Palace is located in Delhi's Karol Bagh, an area popular with budget travellers.
"We have ordered for a magisterial inquiry into the case. Seventeen people have died, most of them of suffocation. Apparently, there were lapses (from the hotel administration's side) and action will taken against those found guilty," he said.
Generally, four floors are allowed for such establishments, the minister said. "We saw a canopy was put up on the terrace and tables and chairs were laid out. Inside in the rooms, wooden panels were there on the walls," Mr Jain said.
Owners of Hotel Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh only had clearance to construct four floors, minister Satyendar Jain said.
"So I have also directed the fire department to inspect such multi-storeyed buildings which have five floors or more and submit a report in a week's time," he said.
The blaze that swept through the hotel in Gurudwara Road in central Delhi's Karol Bagh killed at least 17 people, including a woman and a child, the police said.
A call about the fire was received at 4:35 am and 24 fire tenders were sent to the spot, a senior officer from the Delhi Fire Service said.
(With inputs from PTI)