At least nine people, including a child, were killed in a major fire at a hotel near Free School Street in Kolkata early Wednesday, according to local sources and ANI, citing Kolkata Fire Service. ANI reported that all nine victims were Bangladeshi nationals who had travelled to Kolkata for medical treatment, though their identities had not yet been confirmed.
The fire broke out at around 2:00am at the hotel near the busy and congested New Market area in the capital of India’s West Bengal state, which borders Bangladesh. Several guests became trapped inside the building.
Four units of the fire service rushed to the scene after receiving reports of the blaze. A disaster management team also joined the rescue operation.
Firefighters began evacuating those trapped inside the building and later brought the fire under control after a large-scale rescue effort. Many guests were rescued, according to local sources.
Preliminary information suggested that the fire may have been caused by an air-conditioner explosion, but the exact cause had not been confirmed.
The Kolkata hotel tragedy came just two days after another deadly hotel fire in West Bengal’s Birbhum district. In the early hours of 17 August, at least eight people were killed and several others injured in a fire at Hotel Bidheshini in Tarapith.
According to the report, that five-storey hotel caught fire on the ground floor at around 4:30am while most guests were asleep. The hotel is located beside a sacred pond near the Tarapith temple.
Another source, however, said five members of the same family from Meghalaya, including two children, died in that fire. The report said the family had been staying on the top floor of the hotel. After realising that a fire had broken out, they tried to escape together with the children, but were caught in the flames while coming downstairs. The injured were rescued and taken to Rampurhat Government Medical College and Hospital for treatment.