Prateek Tanmay
Less than 12 hours after the devastating blaze at the Flourish Stay bed and breakfast (B&B) at Hauz Rani in Malviya Nagar, many hotels and guest houses in the area closed their shutters, removed all signage and asked their guests to leave.
In a narrow lane of Hauz Rani, multiple properties run guest houses, homestays and B&Bs right across the street from Max Hospital Saket, where medical tourists — patients and their attendants — come to stay, owing to the proximity to the hospital.
Several of these properties are crammed into dingy alleyways, the buildings less than 10 feet wide, with single entry and exit points.
Around 8 pm, barely a few hundred metres away from the B&B where the blaze killed 12 foreign nationals and 9 Indians, 46-year old interpreter from Democratic Republic of Congo, Ben alias Benedict, was seen lugging his suitcase out of Flourish Inn Guest House. With the reception on the first floor shuttered off, he was among the last to leave the guest house.
“Around 4 pm, the hotel manager told us ‘you have to leave today or there will be trouble’. I am now headed to East of Kailash,” he said.
“I had a patient (for whom he acted as a translator), Sita Beatrice, at the B&B that caught fire. She died in the fire. Another of my patients was also there. He was able to escape, and he had a flight back to Congo today via Mumbai. I think he missed the Mumbai flight,” he claimed.
“The owner (of Flourish Inn Guest House) is not around,” Ben added.
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A police personnel from the Hauz Khas police station, deputed at the spot, said that while the police have not ordered the shutting down of the hotels, all such properties will be checked for necessary permits.
Until this morning, Urban Suite Oasis Rooms had a ‘Rooms Available” board hanging on the door. By evening, the hotel had emptied out its guests, removed all signage, and locked its doors.
Dilshad, a local resident, said, “They were open but then the police started making rounds… The staff is still inside… You won’t get any room today at Hauz Rani, you have to look elsewhere. They all have thrown out their guests.”
Around 8.30 pm, Alauddin Ali (54), a driver, was waiting outside Micasa Homes – different from Micasa Inn located next to the B&B that caught fire – waiting for an Iraqi couple he had dropped off earlier in the day. “They have been told to leave the hotel. They are now going to a guest house at Chhattarpur,” he said.
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Micasa Homes, barely 200 m from the site of the blaze, had locked its door from inside and turned off the lights at the reception. Local residents claimed that Micasa Homes and Micasa Inn were both run by the same owner.
A few metres away, another B&B, Star Light Suites, had two of its staffers stationed outside. Pat came the reply for an inquiry for a room for a night – “There is no room, everyone is leaving… we are closing.”
Meanwhile, at Max Hospital, Ankit Agarwal (34) from Gorakhpur is at his wits end. His brother is being treated at Max Hospital Saket for a hip issue.
“Hotels near the hospital are not taking bookings anymore, so we don’t know what to do,” he said.
