A fire ripped through a hotel in New Delhi on Wednesday, killing at least 21 people, many of them foreign nationals, police and local media said.

Building fires are common in India due to a lack of firefighting equipment and routine disregard for safety regulations.

The fire 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,” the force said.

Several of those killed were foreigners, mainly from Central Asia and Africa, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, quoting unnamed officials.

Many of them had come to the city for medical treatment, according to local media reports.