India, March 19 -- The fire did not just burn a home. It sealed it. By the time neighbours realised what was happening inside a multi-storey building in southwest Delhi's Palam, the smoke had already swallowed stairways, exits, and any clear path to survival. What followed was not just a race against flames but against time, equipment, and design failures.

Nine members of a joint family died in the blaze on Wednesday morning. But accounts from the ground now point to a rescue that struggled to keep pace with the fire. The first alarm came not from sirens, but from a flower seller who spotted flames around 6:30 am and alerted residents. By the time police received a call at 7:04 a.m. and teams rushed in, the fire had already spread throug...