At least 14 people including two women and two children died in a massive fire that broke inside an upmarket North Kolkata hotel late on Tuesday evening. About 12 people were injured and continue to recuperate in various hospitals, police said.
Most deaths occurred on account of choking from the smoke as the trapped guests and staff could not come out of the six-storey building at Mechua Bazar in North Kolkata’s busy Bara Bazar area.
The fire broke out at about 8 pm and it took more than 10 hours for the firefighters to douse. “Initially what looked like a manageable fire the magnitude of it could be gauged only after the flames were put out and the dead people were rescued well past midnight,” a senior fire official said. Most of those dead are from Bihar Fire Brigade sources said holding the hotel owners guilty of flouting the building norms. “The emergency exit door was closed because some building materials had piled up there as the authorities were building an illegal dance floor and bar without permission of the authorities,” locals said. The Fire Brigade officials said the fire fighting system inside the hotel was not working and the water tank was empty adding the fire clearance certificate had lapsed three years ago.
A senior officer from the Kolkata Police said that, “There were 88 guests in 42 rooms at the time of the incident. A boy, a girl and a woman are among the dead.” Locals said that a short circuit inside the kitchen could be the reason of the fire. Kolkata Commissioner of Police Manoj Verma said Special Investigation Team had been constituted to investigate the matter. While the two owners Akash and Atul Chopra were still at large, the police arrested the manager of the hotel.
“It is very difficult to keep a tab on such unscrupulous elements in such a big city. The owners had been indulging in illegal constructions and had also not followed fire rules. An inquiry will be conducted and the guilty will be brought to book,” Fire Minister Sujit Basu said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sanctioned an ex-gratia amount of `2 lakh for those dead and `50,000 for those injured. The Prime Minister’s wrote on the X: “Anguished by the loss of lives due to a fire mishap in Kolkata. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon. An ex-gratia of `2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given `50,000.”
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was away in Digha inaugurating the replica of Puri Jagannath Temple too expressed her condolences and announced an ex gratia payment of `2 lakh for the victims. She wrote on the X “14 died eventually in total because there were combustible materials stored inside. Investigation has been ordered. My condolences to the victim families and solidarity for all affected.”