Cong, BJP condole deaths in hotel fire

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 12

The Congress and the BJP today condoled the tragic death of 17 persons in a fire broke out in a hotel, Arpit Palace, in Karol Bagh early this morning.

After meeting the family members of the dead at the RML Hospital, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Sheila Dikshit said the AAP government should form a committee to probe the tragedy that how such a major fire broke out in the big hotel and was there any lapse.

She said guilty must be punished, but the immediate task should be to console and join the grief of those families who have lost their near and dear ones in the fire.

BJP president Manoj Tiwari said the incident was very tragic and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. “May the souls of the deceased persons rest in peace and I pray to God that the injured persons recover soon,” he said.

Tiwari said he had learnt that the Chief Fire Officer of the Delhi Fire Service had issued safety clearance certificate to the hotel, but such incident was indicative of gross negligence. 

“We will try to ensure that an impartial inquiry is held and the guilty persons are punished. The state BJP unit will keep an eye on the process of ensuring stern punishment to the guilty,” Tiwari said.