Delhi fire: How locals risked lives to smash windows, saved leaping people with mattresses

There was no moment to spare, and the urgency was not lost on the locals who broke glass windows, spread blankets and mattresses for those forced to jump from upper floors and administered CPR to unconscious victims as they scrambled to rescue patrons from an inferno that tore through a bed-and-breakfast building in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar on Wednesday (June 3).

The fire tragedy claimed 21 lives, with many of the victims being foreign nationals staying at the hotel. Of them, eight have been identified: Roland (40), a woman from Liberia; Tshipambaachil (40) from Mozambique; Ashok (56); Vivek (47); Tulkinov Khpumeium (40); Makhpirat Khon Kochkaroua (75); Prem Lata (70); and Kamla Devi (52).

‘People were banging on windows, there was no way out’

A team from The Federal Desh reached ground zero and spoke directly to eyewitnesses and rescuers, uncovering shocking tales of negligence and fear.

Eyewitness and local resident Mansoori described the horrifying scene: “Around 8 am on Wednesday, vegetable vendors called us saying the hotel opposite was on fire. We rushed down and saw flames rising violently. The fire spread so fast that people trapped on upper floors were banging on windows and shouting ‘Help! Help!’ But there was no way out.”

He explained further: The hotel’s main gate was only 5–6 feet wide and had an electronic lock. When the fire broke out, the building’s power was cut, jamming the lock. With the main gate sealed, there was no escape route.

Locals take charge after electronic lock failure

As people inside writhed in agony, Mansoori and about 50–60 locals gathered. They smashed windows with bricks, stones, and sticks to let smoke out and provide oxygen. Some trapped youths jumped directly from the second floor, suffering severe injuries.

Seeing people jump, locals quickly spread 15–16 large mattresses from nearby shops and hotels on the road below, so those leaping wouldn’t hit concrete. Many lives were saved this way.

Foreign family’s dramatic rescue

On the top floors, a foreign woman, her child, and husband were trapped. Locals tied a rope from a nearby building and threw it towards their window. The woman grabbed it but lost balance while holding her child, falling onto the mattresses below — miraculously surviving. Her husband climbed down using a pipe and jumped safely.

Also read: Malviya Nagar hotel fire: Building owner Lavkesh Bajaj arrested as glaring lapses revealed

Eventually, even the mattresses caught fire from falling flames, but by then many had been rescued with the help of locals and firefighters.

Horrific scenes played out all over

As thick smoke engulfed the building and flames spread rapidly, several people were seen breaking window panes and calling for help.

A foreigner couple could be seen trapped on the fourth floor. They broke the window glass, smashed the aluminium mesh and climbed down using a pipe to escape the inferno.

Arman, who owns a blanket and cotton shop opposite the hotel, spread as many quilts and mattresses as he could to cushion the fall of people while others administered CPR to the injured.

“At that time, we did not think about anything else. We provided as many quilts as were needed,” Armaan told PTI.

How locals helped

Another of those who rushed to help was Mohammad Shohaib, a resident and staff member at Max Hospital in Saket, who used his emergency response training to assist victims before ambulances arrived.

“I work at Max Hospital, Saket, and have received emergency response training. We found several people unconscious and administered first aid and CPR,” Shohaib told news agency PTI.

He also informed the hospital management, following which ambulances and doctors were sent to the spot. Immediate medical attention helped save several lives, he added.

Loud explosions heard

Shohaib said the entire building was engulfed in thick black smoke and local residents joined police personnel and firefighters in rescue efforts.

“The entire building was filled with thick black smoke. Along with police personnel and firefighters, we entered the premises without concern for our own safety and tried to rescue as many people as possible,” he said.

Anita Chaudhary, a local resident, said panic gripped the neighbourhood after several loud explosions were heard from the building.

“I heard multiple blast-like sounds and then screams from inside the building. People were shouting for help, and some were jumping from windows in a desperate attempt to save themselves. There was chaos all around, and residents rushed towards the building to help those trapped inside,” she said.

Residents gathered blankets

Another eyewitness, Sanjay Goyal, who was among the first to reach the spot, said residents immediately mobilised after noticing smoke billowing from the building.

“We saw thick smoke billowing from the building and realised people were trapped inside. Residents gathered blankets and tried to assist those who were trying to come out.

“We broke glass windows to create escape routes and managed to rescue several people. People inside were continuously screaming for help, and everyone present tried to do whatever they could before the arrival of emergency services,” he said.

According to Goyal, bystanders threw stones at the windows to shatter the glass and help occupants escape.

People jumped to escape blaze

Another resident, Ishtiyaq Parvez, who participated in the rescue operation, said he immediately alerted authorities after noticing flames and smoke rising from the rear side of the building.

“I noticed flames and smoke coming out of the rear side of the building and immediately alerted the police and fire department,” he said.

Also read: Delhi's Malviya Nagar hotel fire leaves 21 dead; most victims foreign nationals

Parvez said one man was seen hanging from a second-floor window as smoke rapidly filled the rooms. Before mattresses could be properly positioned, a Nigerian national jumped from the building.

Later, several others were guided to jump onto the mattresses to avoid serious injuries, he said.

According to him, around 12 people jumped from the building, including three to four women.

“I saw some people jumping from the third floor and others from the second floor. There were also couples clinging to pipes and window ledges. We kept encouraging them not to panic and guided them to jump safely,” he added.

A woman carrying her child also jumped from the third floor after local residents spread mattresses below to break the fall, eyewitnesses said. She landed on one of the mattresses along with the child and was immediately taken to a hospital.

Fire tenders arrived late: Witness

Another eyewitness, Vijai Jaishwal, said he spotted smoke emanating from the building while passing through the area around 8.30 am.

“As soon as I saw smoke, I alerted others, and one of my friends immediately called the fire brigade. The inn was known to accommodate a large number of foreign visitors, many of whom came to Delhi for medical treatment because of its proximity to major hospitals in the area,” he said.

Parvez claimed that while ambulance services reached the spot quickly and started evacuating the injured, fire tenders arrived around 25 to 30 minutes later, by which time the blaze had intensified significantly.

Residents said the rescue operation in the initial minutes relied heavily on local volunteers who risked their own safety to help those trapped inside the smoke-filled building before emergency teams brought the situation under control.

Search for loved ones

At the Max Hospital across the road, stunned relatives crowded the waiting area searching for their loved ones, scanning lists and making frantic phone calls as the injured and the dead were brought in.

“We can’t recognise them by looking at pictures. Everyone is severely burnt,” said one man sobbing uncontrollably.

Also searching desperately was Namit Goel, who said six of his relatives were among those caught in the fire. “Four bodies are in Max Saket mortuary and two bodies are in another hospital. We are trying to locate them,” he said.

Eight critical at Max Hospital

Max Hospital said in a statement that 39 patients were received at the emergency department. Of these 18 were brought dead, while 15 were admitted to the ICU, including eight who are on ventilator support and critical.

The patients suffered from asphyxiation, minor burn injuries and fractures, it said.

Also read: Delhi fire: How iron window grills, a locked terrace trapped residents, including a toddler

Five patients with minor injuries were treated and discharged after primary medical care, while one patient was shifted to Safdarjung Hospital due to extensive burn injuries, it added.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences received 13 patients—three of them sustained injuries from fall and 10 were those who got hurt while rescuing those trapped in the burning building.

Among the injured, eight have been discharged after treatment, the police said.

Entire family wiped out

Almost the entire extended family of chartered accountant Vivek Agarwal in Gurugram was wiped out in the blaze.

Shocked neighbours gathered outside the empty house in Sector 46, unable to come to terms with the fact eight members of the family, including Vivek (48), his wife Tarjini (47), mother Prem Lata, and daughters Jivisa and Variya, perished in the fire on Wednesday morning.

Only a tenant was present on the first floor of the house, who refused to talk to the media.

“Vivek was a CA working with a private company while his wife ran an NGO. We have been told that the bodies will arrive tomorrow after post-mortem. We are all shocked,” Yogender Singh, a neighbour, said.

Survivor is ailing man family was visiting in hospital

Puneet Gupta, a relative of Vivek, said he made a call to him in the middle of the fire and said “brother, maybe we won’t survive”.

“I told him to wet a handkerchief and cover his face with it but even that was of no help. Now he is gone,” he said, adding, “By the time we reached there, they were all dead.”

Ashok and Kamla Goel, Vivek’s maternal uncle and aunt from Rajasthan’s Kishangarh, and another relative, Jhumri Lal Goel, were among the family members who died, relatives said.

According to them, Vivek had booked two rooms in the Flourish Stay B&B in Malviya Nagar, where the fire broke out, as his father Radhe Shyam Agarwal had been undergoing treatment at the Max Hospital nearby for the past many days.

A hospital visit that turned fatal

A relative said that Vivek’s daughter Jivisa, the youngest among the victims, had returned from Bangalore a day earlier to visit her grandfather at the hospital.

With the death of eight family members, the only survivor in the immediate family now is Vivek’s ailing father, Radhe Shyam.

Prem Bansal, Vivek’s father-in-law who lives in Mahavir Enclave in Delhi, said that Vivek's mother, wife, two daughters, maternal uncle, aunt and another uncle were present at the time of the incident.

They sustained severe burn injuries and lost their lives, he said.

Victims yet to be identified

Of the 58 people rushed to hospitals after the devastating hotel fire in south Delhi's Malviya Nagar on Wednesday, the AIIMS Trauma Centre received 13 patients, while three others with severe burn and smoke inhalation injuries were declared “brought dead” at its Burns and Plastic Surgery block.

Also read: Delhi fire: Nine killed as blaze engulfs residential building in Vivek Vihar

The adjacent Safdarjung hospital received two patients, one of whom is critical and is on a ventilator.

Dr Rima Dada, media cell in-charge at AIIMS Delhi, said, “Bodies of two women and one man, all aged around 40 years, were received at our Burns and Plastic Surgery Block. All three had sustained extensive flame burns ranging from 70 to 85 per cent, along with inhalation injuries. They were declared brought dead.” Their identities are yet to be ascertained, she said.

Cops injured now stable

Separately, 13 injured persons were brought to the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre of AIIMS.

“Of them, three had sustained injuries from a fall. Two of these patients later left the hospital against medical advice and were stable at the time of discharge,” Dr Dada said.

The third patient, a woman who suffered a head injury, has undergone surgery but remains in a critical condition, she said.

The remaining 10 patients were Delhi Police personnel who got injured while rescuing those trapped inside the burning building. All of them are stable, under observation and are likely to be discharged soon, Dr Dada said.

Unidentified patient at Safdarjung

Two persons were rushed to Safdarjung Hospital.

“A male young adult, possibly a foreign national, who suffered 35 per cent burns with inhalation and head injuries is currently on a ventilator,” said Dr Sujata Sarabhai, head of the Burns Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Safdarjung hospital.

The identity of the patient is yet to be verified.

Another woman suffering from breathing problems was brought to the Emergency department. She was examined by doctors and was found to be stable. The woman later chose to leave the hospital, said a Safdarjung hospital official.

(With additional inputs from agencies)