They Died in Each Other's Arms: Couple Found Locked in Embrace After Passing Away In Malviya Nagar Hotel Fire

Inside a locked ground-floor washroom of ‘The Flourish Stay’ B&B in south Delhi's Malviya Nagar, a man and a woman were found dead, frozen in a final, heartbreaking embrace after a massive fire broke out on Wednesday morning.

The woman was seated on the toilet seat, her head resting gently on the shoulder of the man who sat on a chair right beside her, holding her tightly. They had locked themselves inside the washroom, presumably hoping to escape the flames that eventually killed 21 people across the five-storey building, including 12 foreign nationals.

“They did not die of fire. They died of smoke,” said Mohammad Shoaib, one of the local volunteers who stepped up to help evacuate guests from the burning building, while speaking to the media.

"We went to the ground floor and spotted a washroom locked from inside," Shoaib recalled. "When we broke open, we found a couple locked in an embrace. They had died. The woman was seated on a pot, while the man was sitting on a chair next to her, holding her tightly. They appeared to have locked themselves in, hoping to escape the fire. We found them locked in a hug."

The fire, which broke out around 8:30 AM on Wednesday, is suspected to have been caused by a short circuit in the basement. Investigators later revealed the building lacked a fire no objection certificate (NOC), had sealed windows, and was illegally operating 25 rooms despite holding a permit for just six.

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