Nine killed in Kolkata hotel blaze; fire safety lapses under scanner

At least nine people, including a four-year-old child, were killed and six others injured after a massive fire tore through a hotel building on Mirza Ghalib Street in central Kolkata in the early hours of Wednesday, triggering a frantic rescue operation and renewed questions over fire safety in the city’s cramped hotel quarters.

The blaze broke out around 2 am in the five-storey building, which housed several hotels. Five fire tenders were rushed to the spot, while police and disaster management personnel joined the rescue effort. Dense smoke quickly engulfed the building, making it difficult for firefighters to climb the staircase and reach the upper floors.

Firefighters eventually entered the building and recovered the victims. Six injured people were taken to a nearby hospital, where they are undergoing treatment. Officials have indicated that more casualties could not be ruled out as rescue and cooling operations continued.

The narrow lanes around the hotel posed an additional challenge for emergency responders, leaving little room for fire engines to manoeuvre. The building’s internal layout has also come under scrutiny, with reports pointing to narrow stairways and a lack of adequate emergency exits and modern firefighting arrangements.

Most of the occupants were asleep when the fire erupted. Local accounts suggested that flames were initially not visible from outside, while thick black smoke began pouring from the building. As the smoke intensified, several occupants reportedly struggled to find a way out and lost consciousness.

The initial focus of the investigation is on the cause of the fire and whether safety norms were followed. A short circuit has emerged as a possible cause, but officials have stressed that a forensic examination will establish how the blaze began.

The tragedy has also raised uncomfortable questions about the building’s fire-safety preparedness. Officials have indicated that alleged violations of basic safety and construction norms are being examined, while police have cordoned off the premises and begun an investigation.

The latest disaster comes just days after another deadly hotel fire in West Bengal. On Monday, a fire at a hotel in Tarapith, Birbhum district, killed several people, with a short circuit suspected as the cause. The back-to-back incidents have intensified scrutiny of fire safety standards at hotels and other accommodation facilities across the state.

With nine lives lost in the heart of Kolkata, attention is now turning to whether basic safeguards were in place — and whether a tragedy of this scale could have been prevented.

With IANS inputs