Soon after the news of the Malviya Nagar fire reached the Aggarwals, the family members rushed to various hospitals and mortuaries trying to locate eight members of their extended family, who were staying at the bed-and-breakfast (B&B) facility.
Yogesh Aggarwal reached the AIIMS Trauma Centre around 3.30 p.m.
He was accompanied by his aunt, Sarita Devi, who was looking for four members of her family, including her husband.
“We just want to know where they are, dead or alive,” said Mr. Yogesh, a resident of Shalimar Bagh.
By afternoon, 50 members of the Aggarwal family had gathered outside Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, looking for their loved ones.
Soon after the news of the Malviya Nagar fire reached the Aggarwals, the family members rushed to various hospitals and mortuaries trying to locate eight members of their extended family, who were staying at the bed-and-breakfast (B&B) facility.
Yogesh Aggarwal reached the AIIMS Trauma Centre around 3.30 p.m. He was accompanied by his aunt, Sarita Devi, who was looking for four members of her family, including her husband.
They moved from one enquiry desk to another while checking their phones for updates. “We just want to know where they are, dead or alive,” said Mr. Yogesh, a resident of Shalimar Bagh.
By afternoon, 50 members of the Aggarwal family had gathered outside Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, looking for their loved ones.
Came from Gurugram
Vivek Aggarwal, a Gurugram resident, had rented rooms at Flourish Stay B&B to be close to his father, Radhe Shyam Aggarwal, who is undergoing treatment for a lung ailment at the intensive care unit of Max Hospital. Vivek stayed there with his mother, Premlata, wife Tarjani and two daughters Jeeviska and Waria.
Vivek’s aunt and uncle, Kamla and Jhimri Lal Aggarwal, and cousin, Ashok Goyal, who had travelled from Kishangarh in Uttar Pradesh to meet his father, had also checked into the B&B. None of them survived the blaze.
‘His health worsened’
“The doctors had said that Radhe Shyam’s health had worsened. That is why all the close relatives had come from afar,” said Ms. Sarita after she was informed of the deaths.
“We haven’t told Radhe Shyam anything about it yet,” she added.
Outside Max Hospital, Prem Bansal, Vivek’s father-in-law, said, “They chose the facility because it was close to the hospital.”
“At least 15 minutes before the fire, I had called my daughter Tarjani, asking her to inform us about when we could come and visit her father-in-law. She answered my call, saying it was too early in the morning for a visit and disconnected,” Mr. Bansal said.
He added, “I got a call from Vivek’s brother, Mahender, that the family was trapped in the basement of the hotel.”
Mr. Mahender had by then reached the facility after getting a call from his brother about the fire. He could see flames and smoke billowing from the multi-storey building.
Another relative, who was on the spot, alleged that the Delhi Fire Services did not have the tools to pry open the B&B’s shutters and that he, along with the area residents, broke open the windows to allow firefighters access to the building.
