At least 15 people perished in a ferocious fire that tore through a hotel in the Indian city of Kolkata, police reported on Wednesday, as some individuals desperately tried to escape by climbing out of windows and onto the rooftop.
Several people were rescued from rooms and the roof of the budget hotel, Kolkata police chief Manoj Verma informed AFP after the fire erupted on Tuesday evening.
“The hotel transformed into a gas chamber, and it appears that numerous people succumbed to suffocation,” stated Verma, adding that an investigation had been initiated to ascertain the cause of the devastating blaze.
The Rituraj Hotel, accommodating 88 guests at the time of the incident, is situated in a densely packed commercial area in central Kolkata.
Approximately a dozen individuals sustained burn injuries and are currently receiving medical treatment.
An employee of the hotel disclosed to AFP that the fire originated on the first floor of the six-storey building, where a bar was under construction and where construction work had sealed off the windows with bricks.
Building fires are a recurring problem in India, often attributed to inadequate firefighting resources and a persistent disregard for safety regulations.
Eyewitness Nanda Mondal, who manages a construction firm, recounted seeing plastic panels covering the building, which he believed “fueled the fire.”
“One man died after attempting to descend using a rainwater pipe,” the 64-year-old Mondal recounted.
‘Negligence’
The Press Trust of India news agency, which captured footage of intense flames engulfing the Kolkata building, reported that “several people were observed attempting to flee through the windows and narrow ledges of the building.”
Kolkata’s The Telegraph newspaper reported that at least one person died when he “jumped off the terrace trying to escape” the inferno.
Verma confirmed that the fire had been brought under control and that “cooling operations are in progress.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families.
“May the injured recover swiftly,” his office stated in a press release.
Kolkata, a vibrant metropolis with a population exceeding 15 million, serves as the capital of West Bengal state, which is governed by the opposition Trinamool Congress party.
Sajal Ghosh, a city councillor affiliated with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party — the ruling party at the national level — suggested that the fire appeared to be a consequence of “negligence.”
“It has also brought to the forefront pressing questions regarding illegal constructions and safety standards in poorly regulated budget hotels across the city,” he asserted.
