Deadly Hotel Fire Sparks Arrest of Owner by Indian Police

NEW DELHI — Police have arrested the owner of a New Delhi hotel where a fire killed 21 people, as investigators probe safety failures at the building.

Owner Lavkesh Bajaj was arrested late Wednesday, hours after the blaze gutted the Flourish Stay hotel in a densely packed neighborhood. The dead included at least nine Indians and several foreigners, including citizens of Liberia and Mozambique.

People trapped on upper floors were seen jumping onto mattresses below to escape the flames. Several survivors were hospitalized with severe burns and broken bones.

Building fires are common in India due to a lack of firefighting equipment and routine disregard for safety regulations.

Separately, at least four people died in a hospital fire early Thursday in Muzaffarpur, in the eastern state of Bihar, district official Subrat Kumar Sen said. That blaze broke out in an intensive care ward.

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