IRS officer from Panchkula among those dead in Delhi hotel fire

An officer from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), who hailed from Panchkula town in Haryana, Suresh Kumar, was among the 17 people who died in the fire that engulfed a five-storey hotel in Delhi's Karol Bagh area before dawn on Tuesday.

Kumar, aged around 45 years, is survived by his wife Monika and a college-going son who is studies in Bengaluru, his neighbours in Sector 21 of Panchkula town, adjoining Chandigarh, said.

Kumar was posted as Assistant Commissioner in the GST (Goods and Services Tax) wing of the Revenue Department in Delhi.

The police said in Delhi that Kumar was one of the persons who jumped from the five-storey hotel building in Delhi's Karol Bagh area to escape the fire but succumbed to injuries sustained from the fall.

Kumar, who sustained head injuries following the jump from the fourth floor of the building, was rushed to a nearby hospital in Delhi where he died.

"Kumar's wife is in a state of shock. His son was flying from Bengaluru to New Delhi to collect the body and bring it to Panchkula for the last rites," a neighbour said.

"He (Kumar) was posted in Delhi for the last nearly three years. He used to come to Panchkula on Friday evening and leave on Monday. We saw him last on Sunday," a neighbour said.

At least 17 people were killed when a major fire engulfed a five-storey hotel in the heart of the national capital before dawn on Tuesday, leaving some survivors in critical condition and others dazed and shaken.

The dead included at least two women and a child who could not escape the leaping flames and thick smoke in Hotel Arpit Palace in the commercial-cum-residential district of Karol Bagh. Three persons jumped from the blazing structure before two dozen fire tenders joined the battle against the flames.

--IANS

js/nir