It’s scandalized to see the news of Hotel fire, in Central Delhi, which trapped the life of 17 innocents. The accident happened at “Arpit Palace Hotel”, in the congested Gurudwara Road in Karol Bagh. A women & a kid were killed pathetically, when they tried to escape from fire blaze & jumped from 5th Floor. This massive fire accident had killed 17 guests; in addition 35 peoples are severely injured.
The incident occurred at 3.30 am in second floor of the Hotel and call was raised to Fire department at 4.30 am. 24 Fire tenders arrived to the spot and the fire was brought to control at 7.00 am. On initial investigation it is found that short circuit is the main cause factors for this incident. There is no proper escape or emergency exits available in the hotel, hence the peoples were trapped inside and inhaled poisonous fumes. The wooden paneling in the corridors also posed as the hindrance for the fire escape.
As there is no proper evacuation in the hotel, people died mainly due to suffocation. This shows that Fire Evacuation Plan & procedures are not implemented properly in the Hotel. If the Emergency response, fire protection and Risk Assessment were done priorly, this incident might not cost lives.
To avoid major losses, Hotel Safety audit might have done before, to predict the hazards and to take control measures aptly. The law limits the constructions only to four floors, but the Hotel had constructed 5 th & 6 th floor with Kitchen & dining hall. Negligent in enforcing building laws & violating the safety norms will always ends in catastrophic events.
NIST Global - NEBOSH IGC | Safety 