New Delhi: Two people were charred to death on Sunday morning in a fire reported from a hotel in Dwarka Sector 8, police said. Police and fire department officials rescued nearly 10 other guests.
The deceased, a man and a woman, died due to suspected suffocation.Police said their bodies were found on a staircase, suggesting they tried to escape but got trapped in the heavy smoke that was billowing from the ground floor.
“We received information regarding the blaze in the four-storey hotel building at 7.40am, and eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot,” said Atul Garg, Director, Delhi Fire Service.
Another caller informed the police control room about the incident. “During immediate enquiry after the PCR call, we found that the hotel was registered in the name of Shri Krishna Oyo Hotel, B – 260 Sector 8, Dwarka. When a police team reached the site, the fire department officials were dousing the blaze. No hotel staff was present in the building,” said Santosh Kumar Meena, DCP (southwest).
Meena said they have found an eye-witness, Lokesh Kumar, 21, who was staying in the hotel. He told the police that there was a short-circuit at midnight and power returned only after half an hour. “He said when he got up at around 7am, he saw smoke inside the hotel. He also said that he saw a fire on the ground floor and reception area. We are probing the incident and legal action is being taken,” Meena said.
{{/usCountry}}Meena said they have found an eye-witness, Lokesh Kumar, 21, who was staying in the hotel. He told the police that there was a short-circuit at midnight and power returned only after half an hour. “He said when he got up at around 7am, he saw smoke inside the hotel. He also said that he saw a fire on the ground floor and reception area. We are probing the incident and legal action is being taken,” Meena said.
{{/usCountry}}Forensic expert teams were also called to the spot. “The fire was doused by around 8.40am, and two bodies were found on the staircase of the ground floor Both were taken to DDU hospital but doctors declared them dead on arrival,” he said.
DCP Meena said the building is owned by Sidharth and Karuna from Ranchi, Jharkhand but the hotel Shri Krishna Oyo at Sector 8, Dwarka, was being run by Sunil Gupta, who further sublet it to Harshit from Dashrath Puri in Dwarka.
“The hotel will be prosecuted under Delhi Police Act and a case under IPC Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) was registered against them,” Meena said.