Indian police arrest hotel owner after deadly fire
Forensics team members take photographs of the site following a fire that broke out at a hotel in New Delhi on Jun 3, 2026. (Photo: AFP/Arun Sankar)
Arun SANKAR / AFP
NEW DELHI: Indian police have arrested the owner of a New Delhi hotel where a fire killed 21 people, as investigators probe safety failures.
Police said owner Lavkesh Bajaj was arrested late on Wednesday (Jun 3), hours after the blaze gutted the building, killing at least nine Indians and several foreigners.
Two foreigners have so far been identified - one a citizen of Liberia and another from Mozambique.
Building fires in India are common due to a lack of firefighting equipment and routine disregard for safety regulations.
People trapped on upper floors were seen jumping onto mattresses below as fire ripped through the Flourish Stay hotel in a densely packed neighbourhood of the city.
Several residents were taken to hospital suffering from severe burns, as well as fractured bones after leaping onto the street.
In a separate fire on Thursday morning, at least four people died in an intensive care ward in a hospital in Muzaffarpur in the eastern state of Bihar, district government official Subrat Kumar Sen said.
