The difference was stark. Families and relatives crowded mortuaries and hospital corridors to try and identify their kin who perished in the Hauz Rani hotel blaze Wednesday morning, but very few showed up looking for the foreign nationals who died in the city they came to seek medical treatment.

Families of most foreign nationals — 12 died while others were said to have been injured – were far from Delhi, in Bangladesh and countries across Africa, some unaware of the incident.

Officials said identification of the dead and notification to the next of kin will depend on coordination with embassies, a process that could take time.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while offering his “deepest condolences” over “the loss of lives, including of foreign nationals” and praying “for the speedy recovery of the injured”, said the “MEA is in touch with Embassies and is extending all necessary assistance”.

Two Nigerian nationals showed up outside the AIIMS mortuary in the evening, clutching photographs and identity cards of two missing compatriots. They went inside, only to rush out minutes later. Hailing an auto-rickshaw, they headed to Safdarjung Hospital where critically injured victims had been shifted.

They were searching for 36-year-old Chiemeka Emmanuel and 39-year-old Ndubuisi Ferdinand, both Nigerian nationals believed to have been staying in the B&B.

“I am searching for them. We are from the same village in Nigeria,” one of them said, scrolling through photographs on his phone. He showed a video clip of rescue personnel bringing out a man from the basement, administering CPR before being placed in an ambulance. He said the man appeared to be Ferdinand.

“The doctors and police at AIIMS told me to check for Ferdinand at Safdarjung Hospital. We are going there now. But I still don’t know about Emmanuel,” he said.

Among those missing were three Bangladeshi nationals – Md Nurul Amin, Md Chand Mia and Md Nur Mia – who remained untraceable until late Wednesday evening, according to the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.

The High Commission also said six Bangladeshi nationals sustained injuries in the fire, with at least two reported to be in critical condition.

“Due to the severe burn injuries sustained by many victims, conclusively establishing their identities is currently not possible. Consequently, the exact number of Bangladeshi nationals among the deceased or missing remains unknown at this stage,” an official of the Bangladesh High Commission said.

According to officials, many of the Bangladeshi nationals were in Delhi either for medical treatment or accompanying family members undergoing treatment.

Among the injured are Mosharrof Hosain, admitted to Max Hospital, Saket; Omme Zahura and Rahana Akhter, admitted to AIIMS; and Umme Samiya Putu, admitted to Max Smart Hospital and reportedly suffering from severe shock and trauma.

At AIIMS, three bodies were received at the Burns Emergency around 11.30 am. Two were estimated to be about 40 years old and had suffered 85 per cent and 70 per cent burns respectively, while another male victim, also around 40 years old, had sustained severe flame burns and inhalation injuries.

By late evening, Fire department sources said two foreign nationals had died after being brought to AIIMS Trauma Centre: Roland, 40, a citizen of Liberia, and Tshipambaachil, 40, a citizen of Mozambique.

At Max Hospital, 18 people were brought dead. Hospital authorities did not specify how many had been identified, but sources said three to four bodies were charred beyond recognition. Some were suspected to have died of asphyxiation and were believed to be foreign nationals.

Separately, Fire Department sources said that as many as 12 victims at Max Hospital remained unidentified. An unidentified foreign national, the sources said, was admitted to the Burns Ward in Safdarjung Hospital.