KOLKATA: The Eastern Railway authorities said on Tuesday that it extended full cooperation to the fire brigade and police in fighting a devastating blaze at its New Koilaghat Building in Kolkata where nine people died.
Senior officials, including the Eastern Railway general manager, were present during the firefighting operation at the building on Monday evening, a railway spokesperson said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the spot around midnight, told reporters that there was a lack of necessary assistance from the railway authorities in the firefighting operation and that senior railway officials were not present.
"Full cooperation was extended, railway officials guided the fire brigade to reach the spot," the Eastern Railway spokesperson said.
Senior officials as well as lower-level employees were present and assisted the firefighters, he said.
Nine persons, including four firefighters and three railway personnel, died in the blaze, police said.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has set up a high-level committee to ascertain the cause of the fire at the sprawling building situated on Strand Road in the central business district of the city.
"Railway officials including the GM are at the site and are working in coordination with the state govt for rescue and relief efforts," Goyal said in a tweet late last night.
Meanwhile, online ticket booking for trains in the eastern zone, which was disrupted owing to the devastating fire, resumed on Tuesday morning, an official said.
Booking of unreserved tickets, through UTS counters, is also going on, he said.
"Online ticket booking for trains under Kolkata passenger reservation system (PRS), which was affected due to fire in New Koilaghat Building, resumed early morning today," Eastern Railway spokesman Kamal Deo Das said.
Counter ticket booking at all places have resumed except Kolkata and adjacent areas that are directly connected with the communication network of the building, which will be restored after the resumption of power supply, he said.
Computerised ticket booking for train travel in eastern India was disrupted from Monday evening since power was disconnected at the building owing to the fire, Das said.
The server room of the passenger reservation system of eastern India is housed at the multi-storeyed building on Strand Road, he said.