At least 18 people have died in a fire that engulfed a restaurant in India’s capital Delhi on Wednesday morning.
Delhi Fire Services said they rushed multiple fire engines to the Lemon Green Restaurant in the busy Malviya Nagar neighbourhood of South Delhi area after receiving a call about a blaze at around 9.45am.
Eleven people were rescued from the multi-storey building and taken to hospital for treatment, fire department officials said, according to the PTI news agency.
Local officials said some people survived by jumping from windows on upper storeys. There are fears the toll could continue to rise, with victims being treated for severe burns.
Two water tenders, two water bowsers, a quick response vehicle and other firefighting units were rushed to contain the blaze, the officials added.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
Somnath Bharti, a former lawmaker from the constituency, in a post on X claimed that “majorly South African nationals” were found dead, though this has yet to be confirmed by officials.
Police have yet identified any of the victims, or specified whether foreign nationals were among those killed in the fire.
Sub-divisional magistrate Jitendra Kumar said the restaurant was operating on the ground floor of the building. “The exact cause of the fire is still not known, but it is most likely that the blaze originated from the restaurant,” he was quoted by the Times of India as saying.
He added that some “people from the floors above jumped out of the building on the mattresses laid on the road by the locals”.
Chief minister Rekha Gupta in a post on X offered condolences to the bereaved families. “I pray for the speedy recovery of those injured and for strength & courage to all those affected by this heartbreaking tragedy,” she wrote.
“Delhi government is closely monitoring the situation. All necessary medical assistance & support are being extended to the affected families.
“In this hour of grief Delhi govt stands firmly with the affected families. We remain committed to providing every possible support to those impacted by this tragedy.”
The incident comes a day after 11 people sustained injuries following a suspected LPG cylinder explosion that led to the collapse of a building in north Delhi’s Mukundpur area on Tuesday.
Six people died over the weekend in a building collapse in the capital’s Saket area.
