KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday extended his condolences to the family members of nine people who died in a devastating fire at an Eastern Railway (ER) building here, and called for technological overhaul of the city's fire services.
Four firefighters, a policeman, one RPF personnel, and two others lost their lives fighting a massive blaze, which broke out on the 13th floor of ER's New Koilaghat building at 6:10 pm on Monday.
Maintaining that some of the firemen had taken an elevator that was barred from use during fires, Dhankhar, who visited the site earlier in the day, said, "It is sad that six of the nine victims were part of the rescue team. There is a need for modernisation of fire and municipal services in Kolkata, which is a major city in the country and the world."
Stressing that the overhaul should have happened right after the Park Street fire incident in 2010, which claimed at least 24 lives, he said it was high time fire services in the state capital were upgraded. He urged everyone to steer clear of "blame game" at this hour of crisis.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during a recce of the building, claimed necessary assistance was not provided by the railway authorities during the rescue operations.
However, ER authorities said that senior officials, including its general manager and additional general manager, had rushed to the spot just after the fire started around 6 pm, and railway officials have provided requisite help to the fire brigade personnel.