India, June 5 -- The owner of Flourish Stay, where 21 people died in a fire on Wednesday, apparently had a design philosophy. A visit to another Malviya Nagar property linked to him reveals the same principles at work: a basement full of guest rooms with no windows, walls, or ceilings clad in wood from end to end, a single narrow corridor as the only route in or out, and a kitchen running on LPG tucked into a corner surrounded by flammable panelling.

The basement of this second property is reached by descending a staircase lined almost entirely with wood-finish wall panels. At the bottom, a single narrow corridor stretches the length of the floor, with guest rooms opening off on either side.

That corridor is the only access route to eve...