At least 21 people have been killed and many others injured after a fire tore through a multi-storey building in south Delhi, police in India’s capital say.

Many of the victims were foreigners – including people from South Asian and African countries – who had travelled to India for medical treatment or to accompany relatives undergoing care, local media reported.

The building in the Malviya Nagar area allegedly operated as a bed-and-breakfast catering to patients and relatives of those receiving treatment at a nearby private hospital.

More than 40 people were rescued and taken to hospital. It remains unclear how many were inside the building when fire broke out. Its cause is not yet known.

The blaze is one of the deadliest in recent years in the Indian capital.

“The fire was brought under control quite early on – it was contained very quickly. We have now cleared the building and opened it up for the police,” fire officer AK Malik said.

Delhi minister Ashish Sood said authorities were investigating whether the building had the necessary permissions to operate as a bed-and-breakfast facility, adding that those found responsible for any violations would face criminal action.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences and announced compensation of 200,000 rupees ($2,088; £1,552) for the families of those killed and 50,000 rupees for those injured.

Videos on social media showed flames shooting from the building as people gathered nearby. Footage broadcast by Indian news channels showed its exterior badly charred as emergency workers searched the site.

Witnesses said the fire spread rapidly, trapping people on upper floors. Bystanders helped some escape before emergency crews arrived.

“The fire broke out at about 08:50… we rushed to the spot to see that the entire building was on fire. There is a mattress shop at the corner from where we took out mattresses and laid them on the road,” Wasim Raj told ANI news agency.

“People started to jump out of the building from the second and third floors. The fire-fighting team had reached the spot immediately and started rescue work.”

Sher Khan, who lives nearby, described scenes of panic as people trapped on the upper floors cried out for help.

“As the fire intensified, it seemed as if there was no way to jump from here. People spread mattresses, and some from the third floor jumped out with a little kid… She was saying that she fractured her leg,” he said.

Israr Khan, another local resident, told reporters that “all of us have been here since morning. We rescued a child who jumped from the higher floor”.

Several people in the building were from Bangladesh and other South Asian countries and had travelled to Delhi for medical treatment, local lawmaker Satish Upadhyay said.

Fires are common in India, where building safety laws are often poorly enforced.

From factories and coaching centres to hospitals and entertainment venues, many of Delhi’s deadliest blazes have exposed a persistent gap between safety rules on paper and their implementation on the ground.

Investigations have repeatedly pointed to lax inspections, faulty electrical systems and buildings operating beyond their approved use.

[BBC]

The US military has said it launched “self-defence” strikes on Iran overnight, and shot down ballistic missiles and drones fired at ships and Gulf countries.

The strikes on Qeshm Island, in the Strait of Hormuz, were “in response to attempted attacks by Iran across the Middle East”, US Central Command (Centcom) said.

Centcom said Iran had fired two missiles at Kuwait and three at Bahrain, all of which broke apart or were intercepted. Iran said it had attacked US bases and helicopters in a “regional country” using missiles and drones in retaliation.

One person was killed in Kuwait and more than 60 injured when drones hit buildings including its international airport, officials said.

Kuwait’s defence ministry spokesman, Brig Gen Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, called the attack “criminal Iranian aggression”, while the Kuwaiti foreign ministry later said infrastructure including diplomatic missions had been damaged.

Centcom said the strike on Qeshm Island had targeted an Iranian military ground control station. It said the US also shot down three attack drones that had been launched by Iran toward “civilian mariners that were rightfully transiting regional waters”.

Centcom had earlier said it had struck and “disabled” an unladen oil tanker that was sailing towards Iran, as part of the US naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, which began on 13 April.

A US aircraft fired a Hellfire missile into the engine room of the Botswana-flagged M/T vessel, after its crew “ignored repeated warnings”, it said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said “disrupting the security of the Strait of Hormuz will carry a heavy price for the aggressive US military”.

A foreign ministry statement said the leaders of Kuwait and Bahrain had “direct and unmistakable responsibility” for “last night’s acts of aggression”, according to the AFP news agency, as it condemned the US for the strikes.

Iran has repeatedly attacked targets in Bahrain and Kuwait, where US military bases are located.

The attacks happened as ceasefire negotiations between the US and Iran stalled, with a deal to end the war failing to advance over the weekend.

US President Donald Trump this week told his critics to “sit back and relax “, saying that Iran “really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the USA”.

US media earlier reported that Trump had requested edits to the terms of a potential peace deal, after meeting with senior aides to discuss extending the framework of a ceasefire.

The changes related to the Strait of Hormuz and the removal of highly enriched uranium from Iran, the BBC’s US news partner CBS News reported – as well as a framework to reopen negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Marta Kostyuk accused Russian players of hiding behind silence over the war in Ukraine, saying after ⁠four years of conflict they had shown “whose side they are on”, as she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open.

The 23-year-old beat fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-3 ⁠2-6 6-2 in an emotional quarterfinal on Tuesday, played hours after another night of Russian strikes on Kyiv, then launched a scathing attack on Russian players who continue to avoid publicly condemning the war.

Kostyuk, who will next face Russian Mirra Andreeva, said she no longer accepts the argument that Russian athletes could remain ‌silent because of possible repercussions at home.

“There is a way if you don’t agree,” Kostyuk told reporters. “I know some people who have left Russia the moment the war began, who sold all their business, who left everything behind because they just don’t agree with what their country is doing to other people.”

She cited fellow player Daria Kasatkina, who switched her allegiance from Russia to Australia last year, as an example of someone who had publicly spoken out ⁠despite pressure on her family.

“I don’t think she lives in Russia ⁠anyways, but the majority of players don’t live in Russia,” Kostyuk said. “There is nothing that’s stopping you if this is something you don’t believe in.

“After four years, I think they’ve made it very clear whose side they are on.”

Kostyuk’s comments ⁠came after she was asked about remarks from Russian players, including Diana Shnaider and Andreeva, who have previously said they focus only on the ⁠tennis ball and avoid political discussion.

“They are all grown-ups. They ⁠know what they’re talking about. They know what’s going on. They have phones. They have Instagram. They have news,” Kostyuk said.

“I wish there was some more clear stance on what’s going on, especially when your country is killing other people.”

Earlier, the ‌Ukrainian dedicated her victory to “the Ukrainian people” after revealing she had woken up to news of another deadly night of bombings before checking on her family’s safety.

Kostyuk said representing Ukraine had become ‌more ‌important than the results themselves.

“With everything that’s happening, for me being here is a real blessing, and I don’t think about winning,” she said. “I’m here to represent Ukraine and to enjoy.”

[Aljazeera]