Karol Bagh: Seventeen die in Delhi hotel fire

At least 17 people were killed as a massive fire swept through a hotel in central Delhi's Karol Bagh area early Tuesday, police said.

At least nine people were killed, and three others injured when a fire engulfed a hotel in New Delhi on Tuesday, a senior official said. Among the dead were a woman and a child who tried to escape by jumping from a window, the Indian Express said.

According to reports, 22 fire tenders were rushed to Hotel Arpit Palace where the fire broke out around 4 am when most people in the hotel were sleeping. Two hotel staff members had jumped from the fourth floor of the hotel in an attempt to save themselves.

Sunil Choudhary, Deputy Chief, Fire Officer speaking to ANI said, "Fire has been doused".

Dozens were also severely injured in the fire and have been rushed to nearby hospitals.

The incident took place on the top floor of Hotel Arpit Palace on Gurudwara Road in Karol Bagh.

A wedding party had booked a large part of the 35-room hotel.

The recuse operation was called off around 9:50 am and cooling process was started.

The cause of the blaze is not yet known, but the police said most deaths occurred due to suffocation.

"There was wooden panelling on corridors because of which people could not use corridors to evacuate", another fire officer told reporters.

Authorities appeared to have been negligent in enforcing building laws in the surrounding area, Delhi's urban development minister Satyendar Jain said. It is estimated some 120 people were inside the building, built around 25 years ago, according to the hotel's website.

"Buildings can only be constructed up to four floors in Delhi", Delhi's home minister Satyendra Jain told NDTV.