A five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed by the Detective Department (DD) of the Kolkata Police to probe the cause of the fire that killed nine people at a hotel on Mirza Ghalib Street in the early hours of Wednesday. The police have registered a suo motu FIR, in addition to a complaint filed by the fire services department.
“We have recovered 3-4 Bangladeshi passports from inside. Cross-verification is being done to see whether they were the victims,” said Kunal Agarwal, Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime.
Of the deceased, six were men, two were women, and one was a child. Around 80 people were rescued, while those injured were taken to the state-run Nil Ratan Sircar Hospital and Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. Many local residents also lived in the building.
Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister Agnimitra Paul said the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) should take responsibility, questioning the way several air conditioners were operating and whether the electrical load contributed to the short circuit that sparked the fire.
“How were these hotels operating without permission?” Paul questioned, adding that there would be an investigation into illegal buildings, which will not be allowed to operate without valid licences. The rule is that buildings are to be spaced at a 50-foot distance, which was not adhered to in the case of the hotel where the fire broke out. The nearly century-old building housed five to six hotels on each floor.
Many who died were Bangladeshis who were visiting Kolkata on a tourist or medical visa.
“My wife was in the room when the fire broke out; I was not there. People in the neighbouring room helped her. There was a lot of smoke; we were unable to see anything. The fire was on the stairs of the second floor. No fire alarm rang,” said 33-year-old Araful, who was staying in a hotel on the third floor of the building that caught fire. The couple has a 13-year-old son.
Those living in other hotels in the building have been shifted to other hotels in the vicinity. The state is likely to provide monetary compensation, though details are yet to emerge.
