Mundka fire: Absconding building owner arrested

Fire officials try to douse a fire in a four storied building, in New Delhi. Dozens of people have been rescued from the commercial building, mainly shops, in the Mundka area in the western part of New Delhi. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

The absconding owner of a building in outer Delhi's Mundka, where a massive fire broke out leaving 27 people dead, has been arrested two days after the incident, police said on Sunday.

Twenty-seven people, including 21 women, have died in the blaze that started on the first floor of the four-storey building on Friday.

"We have arrested the absconding building owner Manish Lakra after conducting raids in Delhi and Haryana" said Sameer Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer). Lakhra is a resident of Mundka village, he said.

Nineteen people are still missing and there was little hope of finding survivors.