New Delhi (AFP) – A fire ripped through a hotel in New Delhi on Wednesday and killed at least 21 people, many of them foreign nationals, police and local media said.

Indian television channels showed flames leaping from the building and thick plumes of black smoke rising into the sky. People trapped on upper floors were seen jumping onto mattresses laid out below.

Building fires are common in India due to a lack of firefighting equipment and routine disregard for safety regulations. The cause of this latest fire was not immediately known.

It broke out in the morning at Flourish Stay, a bed-and-breakfast in a congested neighbourhood in the south of the city, Delhi Police said in a statement.

“It is with profound sorrow that 21 persons have been declared dead in this tragic incident,” police said.

Many of them had come to the city for medical treatment, according to local media reports.

India’s foreign ministry was in touch with the embassies whose citizens were among those affected by the fire, officials said.

The ministry “remains in close touch with the concerned embassies and is extending all necessary assistance,” junior foreign minister Kirti Vardhan Singh said on X.

Authorities said more than 40 people were taken to hospitals for treatment.

Eight were in a critical condition, according to a statement by a nearby hospital.

A total of 47 guests were in the hotel when the fire broke out, local lawmaker Satish Upadhyay told reporters.

Locals rushed to the site, as firefighters worked to douse the blaze and ambulances arrived to transport the injured.

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