KOLKATA: At least nine people, including a child and two women, were killed and six others injured in a devastating fire at a hotel on Mirza Galib Street in central Kolkata early Wednesday, less than 48 hours after nine pilgrims died in another hotel fire in Tarapith in Birbhum district of West Bengal on Monday.
According to police sources, five fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the blaze that erupted on the third floor of a multi-storied building housing many other small hotels with cosy rooms, close to the state fire services headquarters on Free School Street, around 2 am. Police and Disaster Management Department personnel reached the spot for the rescue operation.
According to a senior official, 80 people have been rescued from the five-storey building. Most of the deceased succumbed to suffocation triggered by huge amounts of smoke. They were found lying unconscious and rushed to the hospital.
Ministers like Tapas Roy, Agnimitra Paul and Kaushik Chowdhury in the Suvendu Adhikari cabinet visited the spot.
Fire Services Minister Kaushik Chowdhury said the identities of those killed are yet to be established. The deceased include both Indian and Bangladeshi nationals, he said after visiting the site.
“We are trying to establish their identities. The situation inside this building is very bad. There are several hotels inside this building. I am shocked to see what was going on here,” Chowdhury said.
Asked about the cause of the fire, the minister said that it could be because of a short circuit. “But a forensic examination would reveal what led to the blaze,” he said.
“The building management did not comply with basic safety and construction norms. It is alleged that there were several irregularities in the functioning of the hotel,” the minister added.
The state government ordered an inquiry to probe the fire on Wednesday midnight. Lalbazar, Kolkata Police headquarters, has also formed a special investigation team (SIT) to inquire into the incident.
Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Agnimitra Paul accused the previous Trinamool Congress government, raising questions on how the Kolkata Municipal Corporation approved so many hotels and establishments in a dingy five-storied building.
She also accused the state fire brigade department during the previous regime of giving fire licences to these hotels without proper verifications.
Most of the boarders, including several Bangladeshi nationals, in the hotel come to Kolkata from across the state and outside for medical treatment in the city. They stay in these hotels housed in the building because of cheap room charges between Rs 500 and Rs 800.
Mohammed Asaful Jamal and his brother, residents of Dhaka in Bangladesh, said, “We came to Kolkata for my business and treatment of my brother at a private hospital along the EM Bypass in the city. We were staying at the hotel. We woke up after hearing sudden screaming of other boarders who were shouting ‘aagun, aagun’ (fire) with sheer panic.”
“We, along with others, came out of our rooms and rushed upstairs to the terrace, braving the black smoke. Later, the fire brigade and disaster management men rescued us,” Asaful, who is still in trauma, said.
The injured have been taken to a nearby Medical College Hospital. “The dense smoke made it difficult for firefighters to climb the staircase and reach the upper floors. While nine people have died, more deaths are feared,” a police officer said.
“Our priority is to rescue those trapped and determine the reasons for the fire. The flames have been doused, and the cooling process is underway,” he added.
The West Bengal Fire Department headquarters is located close to the hotel building.
Sitaram Paswan, uncle of 19-year-old deceased Sandip Paswan, broke into tears at the Medical Hospital. “His father died about four years ago. I brought Sandip from Giridih in Jharkhand and managed a job of a sweeper for him at the hotel. But I could never imagine to hear this news.”
Sitting in front of the emergency building at the hospital, Sitaram said, “I identified the body and found his face with burn injury.”
The owner of the fire-ravaged hotel ‘Sikha Inn’, Bireswar Mitra, who also reportedly runs another hotel ‘Jaapon’ just opposite it along Mirza Galib Street, is absconding after his employees tried to contact him over mobile phone to inform him about the incident.
Indradev Paswan, an employee of the ‘Sikha Inn’ hotel, said, “We are trying to catch our owner over phone repeatedly but it is lying switched off since the fire broke out.”
In the Tarapith incident, hotel owner Kalyan Paul and his father Prabir Paul have been arrested by police.
Significant fire accidents in Kolkata in the past 12 months
January 26, 2026: Anandapur Warehouse Fire
Eight people were killed when a massive blaze tore through a decorators' godown and a factory supplying a popular food chain. The complex lacked a fire clearance certificate.
November 15, 2025: Ezra Street Commercial Fire
A massive fire gutted around 300 shops in Ezra Street, a congested commercial hub in Kolkata. A short circuit was identified as the likely cause.