Kolkata, Aug 19: Nine people, including a four-year-old child and two women, were killed and six others injured on Wednesday in a fire at a dingy five-storey building here that houses several hotels, prompting the West Bengal government to order a probe into the blaze, officials said.
Fire and Emergency Services Minister Kaushik Chowdhury said the deceased include both Indians and Bangladeshis.
A statewide fire-safety audit of hotels and guest houses was ordered, following the fire at the building on Mirza Ghalib Street in central Kolkata, he said.
The fire brigade received information at around 2.07 am and launched the rescue operation by 2.08 am, Chowdhury said.
“Five fire tenders were pressed into service, and the blaze was subsequently brought under control. Nine people died, six were injured in the fire, while 80 others have been rescued,” an official said.
Chowdhury said a special investigation team would probe the incident and that hotels and guest houses across the state would be scrutinised to check compliance with fire-safety norms.
The move comes just two days after nine people died in a fire at a hotel in Tarapith in Birbhum district, putting the safety standards of the state’s hotel and guest-house sector under renewed scrutiny.
Chowdhury said the deaths in the Kolkata hotel fire appeared to have been caused by asphyxia, with burn injuries not found on most of the bodies of the deceased.
“The most important part is that on every floor of this building, there are four to five hotels, and most of the cramped rooms do not even have windows,” he said after visiting the site.
A couple trapped inside one of the rooms could be rescued through the only available window, the minister said, suggesting how limited escape options may have contributed to the deaths.
The minister said the fire could have been caused by a short circuit, but the exact reason would be established through the investigation.
A forensic team has examined the building, while police have initiated proceedings against its owner, who is currently absconding.
The probe will also examine whether the hotels had the necessary fire clearances and whether basic safety and construction norms were followed, another official said.
Chowdhury alleged that the previous TMC government had allowed hotels and guest houses to mushroom across the state without adequate scrutiny.
“Over the last 15 years or more, hotels and guest houses have mushroomed. We need to see how these hotels and guest houses got permissions from the government and local civic bodies and how licences were issued without complying with the law,” he said.
The minister alleged that there had been “widespread corruption” in fire-safety arrangements and said the government wanted to identify such illegalities through the statewide audit.
Chowdhury also questioned how trade licences were issued to establishments operating in such cramped premises.
The building on Mirza Ghalib Street is a striking example of the problem, with several hotels operating within the same structure.
Fire officials said smoke rapidly engulfed the building after the blaze started on the third floor, leaving occupants struggling to find a way out.
The state government will also scrutinise other buildings in the vicinity that house hotels and guest houses, Chowdhury said.
The Tarapith fire, in which nine guests were killed, has added urgency to the exercise. The hotel owner and his son were arrested by police in that case.
The Kolkata incident has also triggered a political row, with BJP leader Santosh Pathak accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of failing to prioritise fire safety during its tenure.
