New Delhi. At least 21 people were killed in a fire at a hotel in Delhi on Wednesday, police said, in one of the worst such incidents in the national capital in recent years.
Several people jumped out of the burning building to escape the flames, witnesses said, with residents dragging mattresses from a nearby store to try to break their fall.
"People spread mattresses, and a woman from the third floor jumped on it with a little kid," witness Sher Khan said.
Television footage showed two people jumping from a higher floor of the building as it was engulfed in flames, with smoke billowing out.
Local people who helped in the initial rescue said the fire broke out on the ground and first floors of the four-storey building, trapping those on higher floors.
"There is a mattress shop here ... We took the mattresses from there and laid them on the road to help those who were jumping out of the building," Wasim Raja, a local resident, told news agency ANI.
Fire may have started in restaurant
The fire broke out in the hotel in South Delhi's Malviya Nagar a little before 9 a.m. (0330 GMT), and eight fire tenders were dispatched to douse the blaze, police said in a statement.
The fire was extinguished around midday, a Reuters witness said.
"Through the coordinated efforts of police, fire services, and other emergency responders, more than 40 persons have been rescued and shifted to nearby hospitals for medical treatment," police said.
"It is with profound sorrow that 21 persons have been declared dead in this tragic incident," it said.
A spokesperson at the state-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences told Reuters the hospital had received 13 patients, two of whom were critical.
"There was reportedly a restaurant operating on the ground floor of the building ... it is most likely that the fire was connected to that restaurant," local administration official Jitendra Kumar told reporters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences for the loss of lives in a post on X. "Authorities are providing all possible assistance to those affected," he said.
