Delhi hotel fire kills at least 21 people, including foreigner visitors

Locals attempt to douse a fire at a hotel in New Delhi. (AP: Manish Swarup)

A fire at a restaurant and hotel in Delhi has killed at least 21 people and injured more than 40 others.

Residents were seen dragging mattresses from a local store to help people jump from the burning building.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his condolences and promised financial compensation for those affected.

At least 21 people have been killed and more than 40 injured when fire ripped through a hotel in Delhi, police say, in one of the deadliest blazes in the Indian capital in recent years.

The building, in the city's southern suburb of Malviya Nagar neighbourhood, had a restaurant on the ground floor and a bed and breakfast hotel above.

Several people jumped out of the burning building to escape the flames, witnesses said, with residents dragging mattresses from a nearby store to try to break their fall.

"People spread mattresses, and a woman from the third floor jumped on it with a little kid," witness Sher Khan told Reuters.

Images from the scene showed firefighters trying to douse the blaze as thick smoke billowed from the building.

Local residents also joined emergency services, helping evacuate people trapped inside and carrying some of the injured to safety.

Firefighters battle the blaze at a hotel in Delhi. (AP: Manish Swarup)

More than 40 people were rescued and taken to nearby hospitals, Delhi police said in a statement.

"It is with profound sorrow that 21 persons have been declared dead in this tragic incident," the statement said.

Eight were in a critical condition, according to a statement by a nearby hospital where several of the injured were taken.

Several of the people who died were foreigners, mainly from Central Asia and Africa, according to the Press Trust of India.

India's foreign ministry said it had been in touch with the embassies of the citizens affected.

The ministry "remains in close touch with the concerned embassies and is extending all necessary assistance," junior foreign minister Kirti Vardhan Singh said on X.

A family hangs from a hotel window as fire engulfs the building in New Delhi. (AP: Manish Swarup)

"An inquiry will be conducted, and anyone who has broken norms and is responsible will be immediately arrested," local politician Satish Upadhyay said.

Some of the victims were foreign nationals who had travelled to India for medical treatment, local media has reported.

Many foreign patients travel to New Delhi for medical treatment and often stay in nearby hotels or residential accommodation during thei