Delhi blaze: 2 Buddhist pilgrims from Myanmar among dead, woman guide jumps off 2nd floor to escape

Two Myanmarese Buddhist pilgrims were killed in a massive fire in a five-storey hotel in north Delhi's Karol Bagh Tuesday, while a woman guide accompanying them escaped death by jumping off its second floor, Myanmar embassy official said here.

The two deceased were part of a seven-member tourist group who had come to India on a Buddhist trail, the official said.

In a statement issued in Burmese on its Facebook page, the Myanmar Embassy in New Delhi also said, the two pilgrims from Myanmar lost their lives and one was injured in the fire, which killed 15 other people.

"The...team comprising seven Myanmar pilgrims was residing at the hotel. Officials from Myanmar Embassy in New Delhi and Myanmar monks are providing necessary assistance to the victims at the hospital," the statement said.

 

The group had hired a cameraperson from Bodh Gaya in Bihar who also perished in the blaze, the embassy official said.

The two Myanmar nationals killed in the fire were: Daw Hla May (66), from Tikegyi Township, and Daw Mya Mya Htwe (44), it said.

The injured person is receiving treatment at the Lady Hardinge Hospital here and the rest four Myanmar citizens are staying at the Hotel Metro View, it added.

The embassy official said, Chan Chan, a 33-year-old tourist guide from Myanmar, who was part of the group, "saved her life by jumping off the second floor of the hotel".

Chan has suffered a fracture in her leg and is undergoing treatment at the Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital.

"The group had come to Delhi from Myanmar. Prior to visiting Delhi, they had gone to Bodh Gaya. The group was on a Buddhist trail. The families of the deceased have been informed and their bodies would be sent back to the country after completion of formalities," the embassy official said.

"Today, they were to leave for Varanasi," he added.

Gyandeep, a monk helping the affected Myanamarese pilgrims, said they were

also planning to visit the site of Ashokan Edict in Kailash Hills area near ISCKON Temple here.

The massive fire swept through the hotel in the early hours, killing at least 17 guests, officials said. Preliminary investigation suggest a suspected short circuit could have sparked the fire, civic officials added.