Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
For local resident Anita Chaudhary, it began as a normal day in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar before the calm was shattered by multiple blasts and screams coming from across the narrow lane where she lives. As she peered outside, she saw thick smoke billowing from a building engulfed in flames, while people ran helter-skelter in a desperate bid to save those trapped inside.
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“People were shouting for help and some were jumping from windows in a desperate attempt to save themselves. There was chaos all around and residents rushed towards the building to help those trapped inside,” she told news agency PTI.
A fire tore through a bed-and-breakfast building in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar on Wednesday, leaving at least 21 people dead, officials said. Many of those killed were foreign nationals staying at the hotel.
Residents in the area rushed to help as smoke poured out of the building and people inside cried for help. Eyewitnesses said locals broke window panes, gathered blankets and quilts, and tried to create ways for trapped occupants to escape before emergency services reached the spot.
Sanjay Goyal, who said he was among the first to reach the site, said people began helping as soon as they noticed smoke coming from the building. “We saw thick smoke billowing from the building and realised people were trapped inside. Residents gathered blankets and quilts and tried to assist those who were trying to come out. We broke glass windows to create escape routes and managed to rescue several people. People inside were continuously screaming for help and everyone present tried to do whatever they could before the arrival of emergency services,” he told PTI. Goyal said bystanders also threw stones at the windows to break the glass and help occupants get out.
Another eyewitness, Vijai Jaishwal, said he saw smoke coming from the building while passing through the area at about 8.30 am. He said he alerted others immediately and one of his friends called the fire brigade, reported PTI. Jaishwal said the inn was known to house many foreign visitors, several of whom came to Delhi for medical treatment because it was close to major hospitals in the area.
An eyewitness said a woman holding her child jumped from the third floor after local residents spread mattresses on the ground in an attempt to save people trapped inside. The woman and the child landed on one of the mattresses, and she was taken to a hospital immediately.
The fire in Malviya Nagar killed at least 21 people, many of them foreign nationals, while residents in the area tried to rescue those trapped by breaking windows, gathering blankets and quilts, and laying out mattresses below the building.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
