The Malviya Nagar hotel blaze that claimed 21 lives this week has once again thrown the spotlight on fire safety in the national capital, with official data revealing that 543 people have died in fire-related incidents in Delhi over the last six years.
The latest tragedy unfolded on Wednesday at Flourish Stays B&B, located in a narrow bylane of south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar. Twenty one people, most of them foreign nationals, were killed and 25 others injured after a massive fire ripped through the building.
The incident follows other recent deadly fires in the city, including those in Vivek Vihar and Palam, where nine people were killed in each case.
According to Delhi government figures, 543 people lost their lives in fire accidents between 2019
and March 2026. In just the first half of 2026, 65 deaths due to fire incidents have already been reported.
Data from the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) shows a worrying trend. Fire-related deaths stood at 84 in 2025-26, 90 in 2024-25, and 77 in 2023-24. Earlier, 41 deaths were reported in 2020-21 and 55 in 2021-22. The toll rose again in 2022-23, when 95 people died in various fire tragedies.
The highest number of fire deaths in this period was recorded in 2019-20, largely due to the Anaj Mandi blaze, one of Delhi’s worst fire incidents, which claimed 44 lives. It was the deadliest since the Uphaar cinema fire tragedy of 1997, in which 59 people were killed.
Between 2019 and 2025, a total of 4,403 people sustained injuries in fire-related incidents, the data shows.
The number of emergency calls received by the Delhi Fire Services has also increased steadily over the years, rising from 17,231 in 2019-20 to 20,379 in the last financial year, underlining growing concerns over fire safety compliance and enforcement in the city.
(PTI Inputs)
