KOLKATA: Nine persons, including four firefighters, a railway official, an RPF constable and an assistant sub-inspector of Kolkata police died in a fire that broke out on the 13th floor of a multi-storeyed building in Kolkata on Monday night.
The blaze broke out at the New Koilaghat building, which is shared by the Eastern Railway and the South Eastern Railway, Eastern Railway spokesman Kamal Deo Das said.
The fire is now under control and the cooling process is on, said Sujit Bose, MIC Fire and Emergency Services, Government of West Bengal.
The death toll may increase as a few other persons are missing and efforts are on to find them out.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who rushed to the spot in the city's central business district, announced 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.
‘’It seems, the deceased got trapped in the elevator and they died. We are yet to get the layout of the building. No senior railway officials arrived here though it is their property. I do not want to do politics over a mishap,’’ said Mamata while overseeing the rescue operation till midnight.
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.
"It seems, the deceased got trapped in the elevator and they died. We are yet to get the layout of the building. No senior railway officials arrived here though it is their property. I do not want to do politics over a mishap,’" said Mamata while overseeing the rescue operation till midnight.
"PM Narendra Modi has approved an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakhs each from Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to the tragic fire in Kolkata. Rs 50,000 would be given to those seriously injured," said the PMO.
"Sincere condolences to the families of the nine brave deceased including the four firefighters, two railways personnel and a police ASI who were fighting the fire at the Eastern Railways Strand road office in Kolkata. All possible assistance has been provided by Railways to state government during this unfortunate fire accident. A high-level inquiry consisting of four Principal heads of Railway departments has been ordered to ascertain cause of fire," said Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.
(With inputs from Pronab Mondal in Kolkata)