DNA Decodes: How an illegal five-storey hotel with no fire NOC killed 21 in Delhi

A morning fire in Delhi's Malviya Nagar killed 21 people, including six foreign nationals, at a hotel that should never have been five storeys tall. The building had no fire safety clearance and just one exit. Records show only 90 of Delhi's 1,000-plus hotels and clubs hold a valid fire NOC.

A fire tore through a hotel in Delhi's Malviya Nagar on the morning of the incident, killing 21 people. The blaze began at a ground-floor restaurant at around 8:50 am and spread upward through a five-storey building in the Hauz Rani area. Six of the dead were foreign nationals and nine were Indian citizens. Six bodies were burned so badly that they could not be identified at the time.

Also Read: Who Is Lokesh Bajaj? Hotel owner under scanner after Delhi's Malviya Nagar fire kills 21

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The building housed the Flourish Stay B&B hotel on its upper floors. Many of those staying there had come to Delhi for medical treatment. A well-known private hospital stands nearby, and AIIMS is only a few kilometres away, which made the area a common choice for patients and their families. Eight of the injured remained on ventilators after the fire, and seven were in the ICU.

Illegal hotel construction in Delhi ignored for over a decade

The hotel was approved under the Bed and Breakfast scheme to run just six rooms. It had 25. Permission allowed a ground floor and two upper floors, with three rooms on each. The building rose to five floors with five rooms on each. By every measure of its approval, the structure was illegal.

This was not a new arrangement. The hotel had operated this way for around 12 years. During that time no department raised a formal objection and no action was recorded against it. The building had a single small emergency exit. When the fire spread, that one doorway was the only route out for everyone inside.

Delhi hotel fire exposes lack of emergency exits and safety measures

Several people were trapped as smoke filled the upper floors. Residents on the street laid out mattresses below the windows. Eyewitness accounts and footage from the scene showed people forced to jump from the burning building, some landing partly burned on the mattresses below. One foreign national reached the roof carrying a bag and waited there for rescue teams to arrive.

PM Modi, Amit Shah and Rekha Gupta react to Delhi hotel fire tragedy

The Prime Minister's Office offered condolences and announced two lakh rupees for each victim's family and fifty thousand rupees for the injured. Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed grief and promised the best medical care for those hurt. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta assured affected families of all possible support.

MCD, Tourism Department and utility agencies face questions after Delhi fire

Responsibility for stopping illegal construction lies with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The tourism department was meant to verify that the hotel matched its approval. The Delhi Jal Board issued the water connection, and BSES supplied electricity. Each agency had a checkpoint that could have flagged the building's true size. None did, over more than a decade.

Delhi Fire Service NOC rules ignored at Malviya Nagar hotel

The fire NOC sits at the centre of the failure. Hotels and clubs covering more than 90 square metres need clearance from the Delhi Fire Service, which checks around 20 items including exit points, smoke management, extinguishers, alarms and sprinklers. Flourish Stay B&B had no fire NOC. Records show that of more than 1,000 hotels and clubs in the city, only 52 hotels and 38 clubs hold valid clearance, which is roughly 9 percent.

Illegal hotels in Delhi under scanner after Malviya Nagar fire

After the fire, enforcement moved quickly. BSES teams reached Malviya Nagar and acted against more than 20 illegal hotels within hours. An SDM team of 17 officers fanned out through the lanes, working in groups of three to check more buildings. The same urgency had appeared before. In 2019, a fire at Hotel Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh killed 17 people, after which 57 hotel licences were cancelled in that area alone.

Hotel Arpit Palace fire and Malviya Nagar blaze reveal recurring safety failures

The pattern repeats because the action targets operators rather than officials. After both fires, hotels were inspected and licences pulled, but there is no clear record of departmental accountability against the officers who failed to inspect in the first place. Investigators reportedly sought permission to question MCD and Delhi Fire Service officials after the Malviya Nagar fire, with no recorded action against them so far.

Illegal hotels and fire safety risks remain a challenge across Indian cities

Delhi is not unique. Similar unregistered and overbuilt hotels operate in Paharganj, and ground reporting found comparable risks in Lucknow, Jodhpur and Pune. The same owner of the Malviya Nagar hotel ran two more hotels in the area, both operating beyond their permitted room limits. The lesson the city keeps relearning is simple: rules already exist, and the people they are meant to protect are the ones paying when those rules are ignored.

Also Read: 21 dead in Delhi hotel fire: No-NOC death trap claims lives, 10 cops injured during rescue