NEW DELHI - At least 17 people died when a fire ripped through a budget hotel in Delhi on Tuesday, with victims including a woman and a child who reportedly jumped from a window to escape the blaze. Guests at the hotel, popular with budget and business travellers, were unable to use corridors to escape because of wooden panelling, according to a fire officer. "There was wooden panelling on corridors because of which people could not use corridors to evacuate," another fire officer told reporters. "Buildings can only be constructed up to four floors in Delhi," Delhi's home minister Satyendra Jain told NDTV. "The entire hotel has wooden panelling, this shows carelessness on the part of the owner."

Source: Bangkok Post February 12, 2019 07:07 UTC