India, June 4 -- 30 on a quiet Wednesday morning, a narrow street in Malviya Nagar's Hauz Rani was suddenly engulfed in flames. Fire swept through the Flourish Stay B&B, a five-storey building squeezed between tangled wires and crowded concrete. When the smoke finally cleared, at least 21 people had died. Many were foreigners who had come to India not for tourism but to help sick family members at the nearby Max Hospital.

The building was allowed only six rooms under Delhi's bed-and-breakfast policy, but it was operating 25 rooms, including some in the basement. There was just one entrance and one exit. The fire safety certificate is being investigated. Police described it as "an accident waiting to happen." Today, that accident happened...