Residents described people jumping from upper floors onto mattresses as rescuers battled a fast-moving blaze that tore through a guest house in South Delhi.
Many of those staying at the Malviya Nagar facility had travelled to Delhi for treatment, officials said, as rescuers continued operations following the deadly blaze.
According to officials, the calls started pouring in shortly after news of the explosion spread, reflecting the heightened fear and anxiety across the city.
A woman among three people were killed while four others injured after a portion of a two-storey building collapsed in North-West Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area on Friday.
Delhi Fire Service Director Atul Garg said: "From this morning, we have started spraying water. We have identified 13 hotspots, and our main focus will be on them."
Despite a complete ban on firecrackers in the national capital, the Fire Department received as many as 201 calls during Diwali, officials said on Tuesday.
DFS Chief Atul Garg said three persons, including two children, were rescued from the spot and rushed to the hospital.
Nine people were killed and 10 others injured after a massive fire broke out in a cloth warehouse in Northwest Delhi’s Kirari area.
A senior NDMC official suggested that a short-circuit could have caused the fire, adding that as per the records, the building had faced "intermittent partial demolition" or other civic action under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act from mid-June 1993 to January 1994, for unauthorised constructions.
The blast brought a portion of the structure down trapping those inside; building owner among those injured, case registered against him
