Twenty-one people, including foreign nationals, died in a blaze that ripped through a hotel in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar on Wednesday (June 3, 2026) morning, officials said. At least 47 persons were pulled out from the fire and taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.

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Officials said the hotel was operating without clearance from the Fire Department. Lovkesh Bajaj, the owner of the building, was apprehended by the police. A first information report (FIR) was registered against him under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 326 (mischief by fire) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

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According to the PTI, of the deceased, nine were from Africa and two from Turkmenistan. The rest were Indians. Among those injured, five were foreigners.

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According to the Delhi Police, the fire which started at the Flourish Stay bed-and-breakfast facility on the ground floor of the six-storey building spread to the upper floors. Many people trapped inside the building began jumping out in desperation onto mattresses laid out on the ground by the locals, who were trying to rescue people, eyewitnesses said.

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A senior Delhi Fire Services (DFS) official told The Hindu: “The building did not have any clearance from the Fire Department. There was no in-house fire fighting infrastructure in place at the hotel. The architectural layout was also not as per fire safety norms. The building had only one entry-and-exit point and access to upper floors was through a common staircase,” the official said.

Municipal Corporation of Delhi sources said the building had approval for only six rooms but was operating more than 20 and had a single entry-exit point.

Lieutenant-Governor Taranjeet Singh Sandhu chaired a meeting along with Delhi Home Minister Ashish Sood and ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident to fix responsibility.

The Lieutenant-Governor also ordered a month-long drive from Thursday to review safety compliance of all hotels, lodges, inns, nursing homes, coaching institutes, restaurants, and other vulnerable commercial establishments in the city, as per an official statement. Mr. Sandhu office said that all rooms of hotels exceeding the permitted number of rooms will be closed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the next of kin of each deceased and ₹50,000 to each of the injured.

As per Delhi Police, the first call was received at 8.48 a.m. regarding a fire at the hotel in Malviya Nagar. The police and DFS reached the spot immediately and commenced the rescue, evacuation and relief operations.

“The fire was on the ground, first and second floors of the building which has a basement, besides the ground and five upper floors. While the fire was contained on these floors, the rest of the building was affected by heat and smoke from the fire. A total of 10 fire-fighting units were deployed to douse the inferno,” said a senior DFS official.

Preliminary investigations have revealed serious violations of safety and licence norms, including unauthorised commercial expansion, as per Mr. Sood’s office.

Meanwhile, both the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress attacked the BJP government over alleged delay in the Fire Department’s response to the incident and other recent fires.

While the locals alleged that the Fire Department arrived almost 45 minutes late and did not have proper equipment, the officials denied the allegations, saying that they had reached as soon as they received the call.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that immediately upon receiving information, teams of the DFS, Delhi Police, Disaster Management Authority, CATS Ambulance Services and other emergency response agencies were mobilised and launched rescue and relief operations.

Mr. Sood also ordered officials to take action against illegally operating and non-compliant guest houses functioning as bed & breakfast facilities, including sealing of premises and initiation of criminal proceedings.