Congress, BJP condole 17 deaths in Delhi fire

Former Delhi chief minister and Congress city chief Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday met the kin of the victims of the devastating fire in a city hotel that claimed 17 lives, and demanded the setting up of a committee to probe its causes.

After meeting the family members of the dead at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital Dikshit said, "The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi should form a committee to find out how did a huge fire break out in such a big hotel?"

Expressing deep shock and sorrow at the tragedy, Dikshit said that she had given her suggestions, and the committee, to be formed, must look into whether there were any procedural lapses and why so many people died in the fire?

The former Delhi chief minister reiterated that the guilty must be punished, but added that the government's immediate task must be to console the families that have lost their near and dear ones.

Delhi BJP Chief Manoj Tiwari also visited the site of the fire and condoled the deaths.

"I am deeply shocked by the death of 17 people and I pray for the speedy recovery of all those injured," Tiwari tweeted in Hindi.

The fire at Arpit Palace Hotel in central Delhi's Karol Bagh claimed 17 lives, including a woman and a child.

Three people jumped off from the building even as 25 fire tenders tried controlling the blaze in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The fire was first reported from the third and fourth floors, but the blaze soon spiralled down, engulfing the ground floor and the basement as well.

Some 35 people were rescued from the five-storeyed hotel.

--IANS

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