At least 17 people died when a fire ripped through a budget hotel in Delhi on Tuesday, with victims including a woman and a child who reportedly jumped from a window to escape the blaze. Images showed thick smoke and flames billowing out of the top floor of the Hotel Arpit Palace in a congested part of the Indian capital. Guests at the hotel, popular with budget and business travellers, were unable to use corridors to escape because of wooden panelling, according to a fire officer. Three Myanmar citizens staying at the hotel were missing, the NDTV news network reported. Most of the residents were sleeping at the time the fire broke out in the early hours of Tuesday. It is estimated some 120 people were inside the building, built around 25 years ago, according to the hotel's website. "We have confirmed with hospital authorities, the toll is now 17 including a child," Sunil Choudhary, a senior fire brigade official, told AFP. G.C. Misra, Delhi fire services director, said the blaze had been brought under control and that 35 people were rescued by firefighters in an operation lasting several hours involving at least 25 fire engines. "There was wooden panelling on corridors because of which people could not use corridors to evacuate," another fire officer told reporters.<doc-sep>A massive fire had broken out at the Arpit Palace Hotel in Delhi on Tuesday. (Reuters) Probing the dreadful fire in a Delhi hotel in which 17 people were killed on Tuesday, the Crime Branch has shifted its focus to investigating the possibility of a deliberate attempt at aggravating the fire inside the premises to settle an insurance claim by the owner, sources said. "The owner had a huge debt of Rs 56 crore which they were unable to repay. Their hotel had not been doing well since last year and he had tried to sell it. The e-auction bid of Rs 27 crore did not materialize. The next auction bid was due on March 31," General Secretary of Delhi Hotels Mahasangh, Arun Kumar told IANS. On the second day of its probe, the Crime Branch team visited the hotel along with forensic experts and two hotel general managers Rajinder Singh and Manager Vikas Kumar who were earlier arrested and are currently in two-day police custody. "The team recreated the scene and corroborated the sequence and evidences, matching with the timings of the fire incident. They also quizzed Rajinder Singh and Vikas Kumar about theirs activities," said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajiv Ranjan. "The team also made an over 30-minute film with a high definition camera at all the inner part of the entire 435-yard area of the hotel from basement to top floor cafeteria and kitchen. We are in the process of checking whether the Arpit Hotel owners -- Rakesh Goel and Shardendu Goel-- applied for insurance of the property," ACP Ranjan said. "The FSL experts also collected samples of burnt objects and also collected other technical evidences to check the gravity and frequency of flames that spread very rapidly through corridors from the first floor to envelop second, third and fourth floors, including the rooftop cafeteria," an FSL officer told IANS. "We also took samples of ash from room number-109 located on the first floor from where the fire broke out. We collected the samples to establish whether it was a planned and a criminal conspiracy or it was an accident due to a short-circuit. The collected samples evaluation report will clear the exact picture," the officer said. "The report will likely be available within 20 days, depending on the nature of investigation," he added. "A preliminary investigation revealed that on the night of the fire, there were 12 hotel employees on duty. But instead of helping the guests, nine of the staff escaped after the hotel was engulfed in the fire," he said. "It was found that some victims did dial the reception number to inform the manager about the fire, but there was no one to answer the calls. Manager Vikas Kumar came to know about the fire a little later, and he and other staff members immediately called the owner, Shardendu Goel, but he did not answer their calls. They informed the fire department at 4.35 a.m. -- over half-an-hour after the fire had already spread," the officer said. "Instead of helping the guests, nine of the hotel staff, including Vikas Kumar, escaped, leaving 60 guests in the lurch. Most victims who were sleeping died due to suffocation," he said.<doc-sep>Send this page to someone via email A fire engulfed a shoddily built budget hotel in central New Delhi early Tuesday, killing 17 people and injuring at least four others, including a woman from Myanmar who leapt from an upper floor to escape the flames, Indian authorities said. Three of those killed were members of a family who had travelled to India’s capital from Kerala in southern India to attend a wedding, family friend Arvind Vishwanathan said outside a hospital mortuary. READ MORE: 10 dead after fire tears through Brazil soccer club Most of the deaths at the Arpit Palace Hotel in Karol Bagh, an area in India’s capital city popular with tourists because of its shops and budget hotels, were due to suffocation, said Satyendar Kumar Jain, the Delhi government minister of health and urban development, as he toured the site after the fire was extinguished. Story continues below advertisement The hotel developer had a permit from the fire department to build up to four stories – the standard height in central Delhi. But the building appeared to have six floors, including a basement and a kitchen built on top of the roof, Jain said. “Carelessness on the part of authorities is evident. We are going to investigate, and the wrongdoer will be punished,” he said. Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Carelessness on the part of authorities is evident. We are going to investigate, and the wrongdoer will be punished," he said. Hotel guest Sivanand Chand, 43, said he was jolted awake around 4 a.m., struggling to breathe. “When I got out of my room, I could hear ‘help, help!’ from adjoining rooms,” Chand said. View image in full screen An unidentified relative of a victim mourns as other relative comforts her outside the mortuary as they wait to receive bodies of those who died in a hotel fire. EPA/HARISH TYAGI The hallway was dark and thick with smoke, so Chand turned back into his room and opened a window. He saw flames rising fast. Story continues below advertisement “In 15 minutes, the whole room was black,” he said. A video shot by a worker at a nearby hotel showed flames consuming the top of the building, which authorities said contained an unauthorized makeshift kitchen formed from sheets of fiberglass. Chand said rescue efforts were delayed because the first fire trucks arrived with manual ladders that weren’t tall enough to reach his floor. He and some other guests were eventually evacuated through his window by a hydraulic lift. Some 100 firefighters and 25 fire engines responded to the fire, which engulfed all but the ground floor of the hotel, fire officer Vijay Paul said. View image in full screen S hotel guest who was rescued, firefighters rescue people during an early morning fire at the Arpit Palace Hotel in the Karol Bagh neighborhood of New Delhi. Sivanand Chand via AP About three dozen people were rescued, Paul said. Story continues below advertisement It was not immediately clear how many guests and staff were inside the hotel, which had 43 guest rooms, according to its website. Rescuers had to break windows to evacuate people because wood paneling in the corridors and stairwells fed the flames, said fire official Atul Garg. “That is the escape route. People have to come out of the room and take the staircase but the staircase itself was on fire, so how they will go out?” Garg said. In a video Garg shared with The Associated Press, firefighters can be seen carrying victims slumped over their shoulders through an unlit, charred stairwell. WATCH: Global News coverage of past deadly fires Authorities were still investigating what sparked the blaze, Deputy Police Commissioner Mandeep Singh Randhawa said. Story continues below advertisement Among those injured was a woman from Myanmar who sustained spinal injuries after jumping from an upper floor, according to Deputy Fire Chief Sunil Choudhary. She was being treated at a local hospital, he said, declining to provide her name. The other injured people were also taken to hospitals, but their conditions were not immediately known. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet that he was deeply saddened by the loss of lives. “I convey my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. May the injured recover soon.”<doc-sep>
A fire engulfed a shoddily built budget hotel in central New Delhi early Tuesday, killing 17 people and injuring at least four others, Indian authorities said. Most of the deaths at the Arpit Palace Hotel were due to suffocation, said Satyendar Kumar Jain, the Delhi government cabinet minister of health and urban development. A hotel guest said rescue efforts were delayed because fire engine ladders couldn't reach his floor. The five-storey hotel had a makeshift sixth floor built on top of the roof out of fibreglass, Jain said. "Carelessness on the part of authorities is evident. We are going to investigate, and the wrongdoer will be punished," he told reporters at the scene. The Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh, an area in India's capital city full of shops and budget hotels that is popular with tourists, had 43 guest rooms, according to its website. Rescuers had to use the windows to reach people because the corridors, made of wooden panels that worsened the fire, were blocked, Vipin Kental, Chief Fire Officer, told NDTV. A fire brigade is seen outside the hotel where the deadly fire broke out. (Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters) The fire was extinguished, first responders had cleared all the rooms and the hotel was sealed by midday Tuesday. Authorities were still investigating what sparked the blaze, Deputy Police Commissioner Mandeep Singh Randhawa said. Twenty-five fire engines responded to the fire, which had engulfed all but the ground floor of the hotel, fire officer Vijay Paul said. About three dozen people were rescued from the hotel, Paul said. 'Help, help!' Among those rescued was Sivanand Chand, 43, a hotel guest who was jolted awake around 4 a.m., struggling to breathe. "When I got out of my room, I could hear 'help, help!' from adjoining rooms," Chand said, adding that he opened the window and saw flames rising very fast. "In 15 minutes, the whole room was black," he said. The rescue took about 30 minutes because fire engine ladders could not initially reach Chand's floor, he said. The injured were taken to hospitals, but their medical conditions were not immediately known.