Kolkata: A fierce fire tore a hotel in the Indian city of Kolkata killing at least 15 people, the police announced on Wednesday, with some windows and on the roof to escape.
Several people have been saved from the Houses and the Roof of the Hotel Budget, said Kolkata police chief Manoj Verma, said AFP After the fire broke out on Tuesday evening.
“The hotel has turned into a gas chamber and it seems that many people have suffocated to death,” said Verma, adding that a survey was launched to determine the cause of the fire.
The Rituraj hotel, which had 88 people when the fire broke out, is located in a congested business district of the Central Kolkata.
A dozen people were burned and underwent treatment.
A hotel worker said AFP That the fire broke out on the first floor of the six -story building, where a bar was under construction and where construction works had run through the windows.
Construction fires are common in India due to a lack of fire -fighting equipment and routine contempt for safety regulations.
Eyewitness Nanda Mondal, who runs a construction company, said he saw plastic panels covering the building that seemed to have “fueled fire”.
“A man died after trying to descend a pipe of rainwater,” said Mondal, 64 years old.
‘Neglect’
THE Press Trust of India The news agency, which filmed images of flame flames of the Kolkata building, reported that “several people were seen to escape through the windows and narrow edges of the building”.
Kolkata The telegraph The newspaper reported that at least one person died when “jumped from the terrace trying to escape” fire.
Verma said that the fire had been discussed and that “cooling operations are underway”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has offered his condolences to the families of people killed.
“Let the injured are recovering soon,” said his office in a statement.
Kolkata, a lively metropolis of more than 15 million people, is the capital of the state of Western Bengal, governed by the Party of the opposition Congress Trinamool.
Sajal Ghosh, a city councilor who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata party of Modi – which is in power at the national level – said that the fire seemed to be the result of “neglect”.
“This has also raised new questions about illegal constructions and safety standards in poorly regulated budgetary hotels in the city,” he said.
