Following a tragic hearth in a central Kolkata constructing that claimed 9 lives, West Bengal minister Kaushik Chowdhury has initiated an intensive investigation into extreme security norm violations and the licensing of cramped inns, promising state-wide hearth audits.
IMAGE: A hearth engine arrives on the resort the place a fireplace broke out and killed a number of folks, Kolkata, August 19, 2026. {Photograph}: Sahiba Chawdhary/Reuters
Key Factors
- 9 folks died and 80 had been rescued in a central Kolkata constructing hearth, with asphyxia being the first explanation for loss of life.
- West Bengal minister Kaushik Chowdhury praised the Hearth Brigade’s immediate response however criticised extreme security norm violations, together with an absence of home windows in cramped resort rooms.
- An investigation committee shall be shaped to probe the incident, questioning how commerce licenses had been granted to such institutions.
- State-wide hearth audits shall be carried out in all inns throughout West Bengal to stop future tragedies and guarantee public security.
9 folks, together with a four-year-old youngster, had been killed and 6 injured when a fireplace swept by means of a five-storey constructing housing a number of inns in central Kolkata on Wednesday, with a number of Bangladeshis among the many lifeless, prompting the federal government to order a statewide fire-safety audit.
Officers of the state authorities and the Bangladesh Deputy Excessive Fee initially stated 5 of the deceased had been Bangladeshis, together with a girl and a baby.
Nonetheless, sources on the Bangladesh mission later stated the variety of Bangladeshis killed within the blaze had risen to seven, including that an official assertion could be issued on Thursday morning.
The blaze at Shikha Inn on Mirza Ghalib Road, close to the New Market space, got here barely 48 hours after one other resort hearth in Tarapith killed 9 folks, placing the security requirements of the state’s hospitality sector beneath renewed scrutiny.
Hearth and Emergency Providers Minister Kaushik Chowdhury stated the hearth brigade obtained the decision at 2.07 am and commenced rescue operations a minute later. 5 hearth tenders had been deployed and round 80 folks had been rescued.
But the velocity of the response couldn’t compensate for the constructing’s lack of escape choices.
Immediate Response and Rescue Efforts
Chowdhury stated many of the victims appeared to have died of asphyxia, with burn accidents absent from most our bodies. Smoke quickly engulfed the constructing after the hearth started on the third flooring, trapping occupants in cramped rooms.
“An important half is that on each flooring of this constructing, there are 4 to 5 inns, and many of the rooms don’t even have home windows,” he stated.
A pair being rescued by means of a window illustrated how design options may decide who lived and who died, the minister stated.
The tragedy has put the highlight on how so many inns may function inside a single congested constructing, and whether or not they possessed necessary hearth clearances, alarms, commerce licences and different approvals.
Chowdhury stated a forensic staff had examined the premises and police had begun proceedings in opposition to the proprietor, who was absconding.
A particular investigation staff would set up the reason for the hearth which, officers suspect, might need been triggered by a brief circuit.
The federal government ordered fire-safety audits of inns and visitor homes throughout West Bengal. Buildings within the neighborhood of the Mirza Ghalib Road premises may even be scrutinised.
State-Large Hearth Audits Introduced
City Improvement Minister Agnimitra Paul stated a committee comprising officers of the Kolkata Municipal Company, hearth division, police and PWD would look at whether or not buildings within the space complied with fire-safety and development norms.
She questioned how institutions working in such cramped premises had obtained commerce licences and the hearth division’s no-objection certificates.
The BJP authorities accused the earlier TMC authorities of permitting inns and visitor homes to mushroom with out sufficient scrutiny.
Chowdhury alleged “widespread corruption” in fire-safety preparations in the course of the TMC period.
CM Alleges Constructing Functioned Violating Security Norms
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari described the blaze as a reminder of what he known as the earlier regime’s “legacy of negligence,” alleging that buildings had been allowed to function as inns and different companies whereas necessary security norms had been ignored.
Adhikari stated a five-member SIT had been shaped to conduct a complete inquiry and promised that these accountable would face motion.
Among the many lifeless was 19-year-old Sandeep Paswan, who had left Giridih in Jharkhand solely three months in the past for his first job on the resort. He was on the reception when the hearth broke out.
Bangladesh Scribe’s Household Amongst Killed
4 members of a Bangladeshi household additionally perished. Journalist Debashis Dutta, 37, his spouse Afsana Shirmin, 25, their four-year-old son Swarnashis and Afsana’s father Akram Ali, 64, had come to India for medical remedy.
The household arrived in India on August 3. Dutta, who had labored with newspapers together with Ajker Patrika and Ajker Alo, had travelled together with his spouse and son to Bengaluru for her remedy earlier than returning to Kolkata. Their eight-year-old daughter had stayed again in Bangladesh.
For individuals who escaped, the evening was certainly one of confusion and terror.
Mohammad Asafoul Jamal, from Gazipur in Bangladesh, was sleeping together with his brother on the fourth flooring when screams outdoors woke them shortly earlier than 2 am.
Others fled by means of thick smoke to the terrace, used cell phone flashlights to barter darkish corridors or scrambled for no matter escape route they might discover.
A pair trapped inside a room climbed out by means of its solely window and remained perched on a slim cornice for almost half an hour earlier than rescuers reached them.
BJP Chief Blames Earlier Mamata Govt
BJP chief Santosh Pathak additionally accused the Mamata Banerjee authorities of failing to prioritise hearth security.
The allegations will now face the check of investigation, however the bodily actuality on the web site has already raised troublesome questions.
The Tarapith blaze had already raised comparable issues. 9 company died there on August 17, together with two kids and 5 members of a household from Meghalaya. The resort proprietor and his son had been arrested.
Two resort fires, 9 deaths every and separated by solely two days, have now compelled the state to confront whether or not security checks are being carried out solely after catastrophe strikes.
For survivors of Mirza Ghalib Road, the reply was speedy: rooms turned traps, darkness erased escape routes, and smoke did what flames did not-suffocate those that couldn’t discover a means out to loss of life.
The statewide audit’s effectiveness will depend upon whether or not it identifies inns working with out clearances, forces compliance the place norms have been ignored and closes premises that can’t present a protected path to the skin earlier than one other evening turns lethal.
