There were bodies everywhere: First responder recounts horrors inside hotel

The sight of charred bodies strewn across rooms and staircases, a man found clutching a bag as he tried to flee, a couple locked in a final embrace inside a toilet, and the desperate cries of those trapped on upper floors continues to haunt the first responders a day after the Malviya Nagar hotel fire in south Delhi killed 21 people.

Such haunting memories were among several horrific sights witnessed by Wasim Raja, one of the first responders who rushed into the smoke-filled Flourish Stay B&B in Hauz Rani before firefighters could secure the building.

A day after the tragedy, Raja said he could not sleep through the night as traumatic memories of charred bodies, desperate cries for help and the couple’s final moments continued to play in his mind. “I am still getting goosebumps remembering what I saw. It was horrific and deeply disturbing. There were bodies everywhere – one on a chair near the reception, another lying on the staircase, with cries for help coming from the upper floors,” Raja, a duty in-charge in the security department of Max Hospital who lives nearby, said.

Among the dead was a man whose burnt body was found clutching a bag, apparently grabbed in a desperate bid to flee when smoke engulfed the building.

But it was what Raja found behind a locked bathroom door that hit him the hardest.

“We somehow managed to open the door, and what we saw was beyond words. I have seen many dead bodies in my career, but nothing matches what I saw there,” he said.

According to Raja, a woman, who appeared to have recently undergone a medical procedure and had a visible surgical mark on her head, was seated on the toilet seat while her husband sat next to her on a chair.

“They were holding each other. Their arms were wrapped around one another and her head was resting on his shoulder. Even the Taj Mahal pales before the love I saw there,” he said.

The couple is believed to be among the foreign nationals who died in the blaze, with officials putting the figures at 12.

Raja said several bodies were found in places that suggested that they desperately searched for ways to survive. Some were found under beds, while others were found in toilets and near staircases, apparently overcome by smoke while trying to escape.           

The tragedy has also put the spotlight on safety violations and cramped accommodation facilities linked to the hotel owner, Lavkesh Bajaj, whom the police have arrested.

A PTI visit to another property in Malviya Nagar, said to be linked to Bajaj, revealed a basement maze of narrow corridors, small guest rooms and extensive wooden panelling.

Several rooms appeared to have little or no natural ventilation, while the common areas and passageways were lined with combustible wooden-finish interiors.

The basement also housed a kitchen fitted with LPG connections and electrical appliances amid laminated wooden cabinetry.

The findings assume significance as investigators probe whether unauthorised construction, fire-safety violations, blocked exits and interior modifications contributed to the scale of the disaster on Wednesday.

Police are questioning Bajaj over alleged violations related to construction, licensing and safety compliance.

Five teams have also been formed to trace the hotel’s manager, Jai Mishra, who is absconding.

The exact cause of the fire is yet to be established, officials said.