As thick smoke billowed out of a hotel in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar, panic spread through the building. Guests rushed to windows, shouting for help as flames and smoke closed in around them. Some leaned out desperately for air. Others looked down at the road below, weighing an impossible choice.
Across the street, Riyazuddin Mansuri and his son Armaan saw the chaos unfold.
The father-son duo run a small bedding shop opposite the hotel. As cries for help grew louder, they knew every second mattered. Without stopping to think about the risks or the cost, they rushed into their shop and began pulling out mattresses and quilts.
Together, they dragged more than 20 mattresses and bedding items onto the road and stacked them beneath the hotel windows. It was a humble idea born in a moment of urgency, but it would soon make all the difference.
The father-son duo run a small bedding shop opposite the hotel.
As the fire spread through the building, trapped guests began jumping to escape the smoke. The pile of mattresses broke their fall, turning a stretch of concrete into a makeshift lifeline. According to reports, nearly eight people survived after landing on the cushion created by Riyazuddin and Armaan.
Even after that, the two did not step away.
They remained at the site as rescue teams arrived, helping survivors reach safely, assisting emergency personnel and supporting the efforts underway. Long after the first mattresses hit the ground, they continued doing whatever was needed.
When the rescue operation ended, their shop looked very different. Much of their stock had been used during the emergency, amounting to a loss of nearly Rs 2 lakh.
But Riyazuddin never spoke about what was lost. “At that moment, I was only thinking about saving lives, not the losses,” he says.
The Malviya Nagar fire claimed 21 lives and left several families grieving. Amid the tragedy, however, the actions of this father and son helped save others from the same fate. In a moment that demanded courage, they did not hesitate. They simply saw people in danger and acted.
