19-year-old migrant among 9 killed in Kolkata hotel blaze

Three months ago, 19-year-old Sandeep Paswan left his hometown Giridih in Jharkhand for Kolkata to join his first job.

On Tuesday night, the hotel that had become his workplace and home, turned into his place of death.

Sandeep was at the reception of Shikha Inn on Mirza Ghalib Street when fire broke out in the five-storey building housing several hotels and guest houses. Rescuers found him after entering the smoke-filled building, and he was later declared dead at a hospital.

He was among nine people killed in the blaze in central Kolkata in the early hours of Wednesday, while officials said six others were injured and around 80 were rescued. The dead included two women and a four-year-old child.

But behind the toll are stories revealing the human cost of the fire: a young worker who could not escape the place he called home, and several Bangladeshi visitors who survived only after scrambling through smoke and darkness to reach the roof.

Sandeep had completed his higher secondary education but could not continue his higher studies after his father died about four years ago. He left Giridih and came to Kolkata, joining the hotel around three months ago.

The hotel soon became his entire world. He lived there and worked at the reception, helping guests with their problems and often acting as the link between them and the manager. Those who knew him described him as a cheerful young man who had quickly settled into his new surroundings.

"He was always cheerful," said Indradev Paswan, a neighbour from Giridih who also worked in the New Market area.

Indradev works in another hotel nearby and would often meet Sandeep. They would chat and exchange stories. When he heard about the fire, Indradev rushed to Mirza Ghalib Street, but fire engines, police and disaster management personnel had already reached the building. He could only wait outside.

During the rescue operation, he saw Sandeep being brought out unconscious. The teenager was rushed to hospital, but doctors could not save him.

Among those who survived were several Bangladeshis staying in the building for business and medical treatment.

Mohammad Asafoul Jamal, a resident of Gazipur in Bangladesh, had been staying on the fourth floor with his brother since Saturday. They were asleep when screams outside woke them up shortly before 2 am.

Jamal opened the window and saw people below shouting that there was a fire. He and his brother tried to leave the room, but thick smoke poured in as soon as they opened the door. Going downstairs was no longer possible.

They eventually made their way to the roof along with around 20-25 others, gathering near a water tank and waiting for the fire brigade.

"We did not know from which direction the fire could come," Jamal said, adding that they had decided to use water from the tank if the flames reached them.

For Mohammad Nazmul Sarkar, another Bangladeshi visitor staying on the fourth floor, the most frightening part was the lack of air. Nazmul had come to Kolkata for cardiac treatment.

"At one point, I thought I would die," he recalled.

He said the staircase was so narrow that people could move through it almost one at a time. Smoke had filled the passage and there was almost no visibility. With no clear way downstairs, he switched on his mobile phone's flashlight and made his way towards the upper floor.

His account, like Jamal's, suggests that the people trapped inside were not following an organised evacuation plan but searching for whatever route offered a chance of survival.

Another Bangladeshi visitor, Kawsar Hossain, was staying on the first floor with his family, including his child. He said they were asleep when hotel workers knocked on their door and alerted them about the fire.

The family rushed out, but Kawsar soon realised that their passports had been left inside the room. He went back to retrieve them.

The tragedy has also brought renewed attention to the concentration of hotels and guest houses in the congested New Market area.

The building on Mirza Ghalib Street housed several accommodation facilities. Shikha Inn was on the third floor, alongside another hotel, while more hotels and guest houses operated on the floors above.

Residents said guests staying in different establishments depended on a common staircase at the front of the building.

Some alleged that while the hotel rooms were relatively clean and maintained, the common areas and access routes were narrow and ill-suited to a quick evacuation. There were around 10-12 rooms on a floor, according to people familiar with the building, with some air-conditioned and others not.

One guest said he was paying Rs 1,300 a night for an air-conditioned room.

The accounts have raised a larger question: whether hotels and guest houses operating in such buildings have adequate fire-safety arrangements and, more importantly, whether guests can actually escape when an emergency strikes in the middle of the night.

Fire and Emergency Services Minister Kaushik Chowdhury said the fire brigade received information around 2.07 am and launched the rescue operation by 2.08 am. Five fire tenders were pressed into service and the blaze was subsequently brought under control.

The minister said the victims included both Indians and Bangladeshis.

The West Bengal government has ordered a probe into the fire and a statewide fire-safety audit of hotels and guest houses.

(Inputs from PTI)