Even before Delhi could properly recover from the tragedy of the building collapse that happened near Saket, another tragedy has struck, with a fire breaking out at a Malviya Nagar hotel that resulted in the death of almost 21 people.
Two disasters. Four days apart. The same part of the city.
The same recurring failures: illegal construction, non-existent safety compliance, overcrowded premises, and the particular cruelty of buildings designed to trap the people inside them when something goes wrong.
The question of who is responsible for the deaths in Malviya Nagar is not a simple one, and the answer, when it comes, will likely implicate not just the man who owned the hotel but the system that allowed it to exist.
What Happened At The Malviya Nagar Hotel Fire?
On the morning of June 3, 2026, South Delhi was the site of a deadly catastrophe: a fire in a cramped, multi-storey bed-and-breakfast hotel in the Hauz Rani locality of South Delhi’s Malviya Nagar killed at least 21 people, 17 of them foreign nationals, and sent dozens more to hospitals with severe burns.
The fire broke out at the Flourish Stay B&B, a multi-storey establishment operating under the name Lemon Green Restaurant. The hotel was located in a narrow lane of the already congested locality, which one can assume is a reason why the tragedy was so massive.
DCP (South) Anant Mittal told reporters, “Local police staff immediately reached the spot and commenced rescue, evacuation, and relief operations. The fire has been successfully extinguished with the assistance of eight fire tenders. More than 40 persons have been rescued and shifted to nearby hospitals for medical treatment. Twenty-one persons have been declared dead in this tragic incident.”
Although the exact reason for why the fire broke out is still being investigated, some reports have claimed that it was due to an AC (air conditioner) malfunction. Others, citing preliminary findings by Delhi Fire Services, believe that the fire started near the staircase on the ground floor of the building.
Firefighters are reported to have found LPG cylinders on the site, but the DFS assessment seems to believe that it was some materials stored near the staircase that caught fire and then spread across the structure. The reason why it became so deadly and resulted in such a high number of casualties is also being debated.
According to Delhi Fire Services sources, the windows on the building were all sealed, greatly restricting escape routes for people, and also letting smoke spread, resulting in deadly smoke inhalation.
Former Delhi Fire Services Director Atul Garg, speaking on this, said, “More than 22 people have died there, and this is a very unfortunate incident that happened in Delhi. This area is a very congested area… here, fire tenders cannot go easily. There is no water source available. A lot of encroachment happened here… because of all this, in this area, firefighting is already very difficult… Many houses have only one staircase. A lot of smoke was there, and because of this, people have died. They didn’t get the time to come out. That’s the reason why so many people died… Since they have no NOC and other things, I think there was no safety measure available there (in the building)… Till now, the Delhi fire service has rescued 36 people, and the operation is still underway.”
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Forty-seven people were rescued from the building in total. At the time of the fire, it was believed that more than 40 people were inside, most of them asleep. The dead include citizens of Liberia, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Bangladesh, as confirmed by Zee News.
According to reports, many of these were foreign nationals, from Central Asia and Africa, who were family members of patients receiving treatment at a nearby hospital, and had taken rooms at the budget establishment while their relatives recovered.
An eyewitness account captured for The Federal described the desperation of those trapped on upper floors: “I saw four to six people breaking the glass and jumping from the building to escape the fire. One person’s leg appeared to have been broken after the fall.”
A report by The Week added that “eyewitnesses reported that the fire was so intense that even those on the third floor began screaming for their lives and jumping from the ceiling.”
A victim’s family member, speaking to Open The Magazine, said, “Max Hospital said that 2-4 bodies are here, but no one tells us anything much more than that. We do not know the whereabouts of our loved ones. No one is trying to do anything here. We are very frustrated.”
Another victim’s family members said, “I have a daughter, Tarini Agarwal, who is 42 years old, and she has two daughters named Angel, who is 20, and her younger daughter, who is 17. We do not know where they are. All three are missing. I also got a call from the police. The hospital administration is not telling us anything.”
Who Was At Fault Here?
While the investigation is still underway, the Delhi Police is on the lookout for the hotel owner; however, the fault is spread across sectors.
Delhi Police have identified Lokesh Bajaj as the owner of the Flourish Stay B&B. Bajaj, as per several reports, is said to have been operating a bigger establishment than he was permitted. As per officials, this particular establishment was allowed to operate only six rooms under the Bed and Breakfast (B&B) scheme; however, authorities have revealed that the owner was operating between 20 and 25 rooms, including accommodation in a basement that investigations suggest was illegally constructed.
Abhilash Kumar Malik, chief fire officer (South Zone), added that he “inspected the building thoroughly from top to bottom while we were conducting our search. The structure consists of a basement, a ground floor, and five upper stories. For the entire building, there is only a single staircase alongside an elevator. The building is completely sealed off. The front facade is entirely covered, and every single window, including those in the bathrooms, is tightly sealed. There is not a single window left open to allow for proper ventilation or smoke removal.”
Malik further said, “In a fire accident, structures built like this act exactly like a chimney. The moment a fire breaks out, the single enclosed column forces all the dense smoke and intense heat to rise immediately to the upper floors. This happens so rapidly that occupants are completely cut off and have no time to safely evacuate. When we were conducting rescue operations alongside Prime Asia, we quickly realised that the building completely lacked an internal fire protection system.”
The investigation into ownership and property violations is only one strand of what June 3 demands. The second strand, uncomfortable for a different set of people, concerns the failures of the regulatory and emergency response systems.
The deeper question is also, how did a B&B licensed for six rooms operate as a 25-room commercial lodging establishment, apparently for a sustained period, without triggering any regulatory inspection or enforcement action?
The Delhi government’s B&B scheme involves a registration process. The municipal authority is responsible for building compliance. The fire department is responsible for issuing and periodically verifying fire safety NOCs.
At least one of those three systems had to have failed, or been circumvented, for a building with sealed windows, a single locked exit, no ventilation, and no fire NOC to operate with guests inside it.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Hindu, Open Magazine, Firstpost
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