At least 7 dead as fire breaks out at Kolkata building

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the family members of the deceased

At least seven persons, including personnel from the fire brigade, police and the RPF died due to suffocation after they got trapped inside an elevator while trying to put out a fire and conducting search and rescue operations at a multi-story building in Kolkata on Monday. The building houses an office of the Indian Railways.

“An extremely unfortunate incident has taken place. Seven persons have died in the fire. Among the deceased there are four fire brigade personnel, one RPF personnel, one ASI of police and another person who is yet to be identified,” said Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Basu.

He also said that the fire broke out at the 13th floor of the building at around 6.30 pm.

“The deceased reached the 13th floor in an elevator and died due to extreme heat and suffocation after reaching there,” said Basu.

Also read: Maharashtra: 4 shops gutted in fire in Thane, no casualty

The incident took place at the 13th floor of the building located at the Strand Road area of the building. The fire broke out at around 8.30 pm. The concerned person tried to enter the building about a couple of hours ago when the blaze seemed to be a bit under control. The fire is now under control.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who rushed to the spot in the city's central business district, announced that the state government will pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those killed in the blaze and government job to the kin of each victim.

"We lost seven people. Four of them were firefighters who lost their lives inside a lift which they used to reach upstairs quickly. The lift got electrocuted. This is very unfortunate," Banerjee said.

The chief minister alleged that not a single official of the Railways could be seen during the fire incident.

"The building belongs to the Railways. But I have come to know that no one from the Railways arrived reached the spot till now. Our fire department asked for the building map from them in order to get inside the premises but there was no cooperation from them, she said.

Banerjee, however, said she does not want to indulge in politics with a mishap. The CM also went to the SSKM Hospital where the bodies, which are in "very bad shape", were sent for post-mortem examination.

At least 20 fire tenders and two hydraulic ladders were pressed into service to douse the blaze at the building which also has a computerised ticket booking centre in the ground floor.

The four firefighters who died were identified as Girish Dey, Gourav Bej, Aniruddha Jana and Biman Purkayat, a senior official of the state government said.

(With inputs from PTI)