3 from one family die in Delhi blaze

New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS) Three members of a family from Kochi in Kerala died in the blaze which engulfed a Delhi hotel here on Tuesday morning, killing 17 people in all.

A group of 15, all from an extended family, had come to Delhi last week to attend a wedding at Ghaziabad and had been staying on the second floor of the Arpit Palace Hotel in Karol Bagh, said a Delhi-based relative, Rajashekhar Nair. 

The three who were killed were identified as P. Nalini Amma and her brother Vidyasagar as well as Jayashri (53), daughter of Nalini Amma. 

Ten members of the family managed to escape the six-storey building which was engulfed in fire. Two had left for Mumbai a day earlier. But the three who perished got trapped amid the leaping flames, Nair said.

He said the family was awake at the time of the incident and was preparing to leave the hotel for Haridwar on Tuesday. As part of their long vacation, the family had booked a travel package and had among its itinerary a visit to Wagah border in Punjab. 

Prima facie, the cause of the fire was said to be a short circuit.