Delhi hotel fire: Locals turn saviours amid wails, screams, burning bodies

As thick smoke engulfed a five-storey bed-and-breakfast hotel in Delhi’s Hauz Rani area on Wednesday (June 3, 2026) morning, local residents rushed to rescue trapped occupants even before the fire tenders arrived.

The blaze, which broke out around 8.30 a.m., spread across three floors of the building, leaving several guests stranded inside amid dense smoke and panic. The establishment reportedly had only one common entry and exit point and no emergency staircase.

Delhi hotel fire LIVE updates on June 3, 2026

Sixty-one-year-old Riyazuddin, who runs a roadside shop opposite the building, said he quickly pulled out mattresses from his shed and spread them below the building’s windows to help people jump to safety.

Moments later, trapped residents began jumping through windows to escape the flames. Not all rooms had windows while some were jammed shut and unbreakable.

“I laid out around 15 mattresses. One man who rolled over from the second floor broke his leg. Everything was extremely tense,” said Riyazuddin.

Later, Mohammed Israr Khan, another resident, also helped push people out of the window. Mr. Khan, 40, rushed to the spot after receiving a call from his brother around 8.40 am. Along with Wasim, Amir, Shahrukh, Afzal, Hazi, and Anish, he helped pull victims out and carry them to ambulances.

The locality, due to its proximity to the Max Hospital, has many hotels used by patients and their families visiting the capital for treatment. Locals also said that the majority of the occupants are foreign nationals on medical visas.

“When we entered the building with police and rescue teams, we could not see anything. There was only smoke, screams and wailing from every floor,” Mr. Khan said, adding, “Many were trapped in the basement. Some bodies were still burning, but we used our bare hands. Time is critical in such situations.”

Mr. Khan said he performed CPR on eight people. “I vomited a couple of times. It was a deadly sight. Around five people we brought out were already dead,” he said. A victim’s phone rang while Mr. Khan was helping with the rescue. “It was the person’s mother asking about her child. I could not say anything and handed the phone to the police. I didn’t want to be the bearer of the bad news,” he said.

Rescuers said the building’s single entry-exit point and lack of accessible windows made the rescue operation difficult. Some volunteers and police personnel reportedly collapsed after inhaling smoke.

Wasim Raja, another local resident, said he found two women unconscious inside a bathroom where they had locked themselves to escape the fire. “I carried them out on a mattress by myself. Most people staying there were already weak and had come to Delhi for treatment.”

“A mother and her child bought medicines from me yesterday. They were supposed to travel to Agra today. I don’t know if they made it,” said a local pharmacist whose shop has been in the narrow lane for over 27 years.

Hours after the fire was extinguished, panic lingered in the neighbourhood, which houses many such multi-storey hotels in the narrow lanes criss-crossed with dangling electrical wires. Several guests of nearby lodges were seen checking out with their luggage, worried about safety in similar buildings, many of which have only one staircase and lack fire equipment.

Among them was a man who flew in from Lucknow after hearing reports of the fire. “My father is staying here for treatment and cannot speak. I was supposed to come tomorrow, but I took the first flight as soon as I heard the news with name of the hotel because it sounded similar to the one where my father is staying,” he said.