The charred remains of a building in the heart of Delhi tell a grim story. At least 21 people are dead after a fire swept through a multi-storey commercial complex in the city's old quarter. Among the victims are foreign nationals, a detail that adds a layer of international complexity to a tragedy already heavy with human cost.
The fire broke out late on a Friday evening, when many would have been winding down for the weekend. Instead, they were trapped. Witnesses describe scenes of chaos: smoke billowing from windows, people jumping to escape the flames, and the wail of sirens that went on for hours.
The building, a maze of narrow corridors and makeshift offices, appears to have had no clear fire escape. It is a familiar story in Indian cities where safety regulations often bow to convenience and profit. The owner of the building is being questioned, but the real questions are about the systems that allowed such a tragedy to occur.
For the families of the dead, there are no answers, only grief. And for the foreign nationals among them, their deaths will now be part of a larger diplomatic exchange, a grim tally of lives lost in a city that had not thought to protect them. The fires of Delhi are not new; they are a recurring nightmare.
Each time, we ask how, and each time, the answer is the same: we had forgotten to ask before.
