Child among 9 killed in massive fire at Kolkata hotel

At least nine people, including a child, were killed after a fire broke out at a hotel in central Kolkata in the early hours of Wednesday, police said.

The fire erupted around 2 am at the five-storey Shikha Inn on Mirza Ghalib Street. Four fire tenders were deployed and the blaze was brought under control after several hours.

Kolkata Police said the dead included six men, two women and a child. More than 60 people were rescued from the building, while nine people were found unconscious and taken to hospital, where doctors declared them dead.

The fire reportedly broke out on the second floor. Guests said the hotel had only one entry and exit and no emergency exits. One survivor also claimed there was no fire alarm or firefighting system.

The incident has raised concerns over fire-safety compliance in the area, which has several hotels frequented by visitors, including foreign nationals. BJP leader Santosh Pathak alleged that many hotels were operating illegally and lacked proper firefighting arrangements and licences.

The Kolkata blaze comes just two days after a hotel fire in Tarapith in West Bengal’s Birbhum district killed nine people, including two children. Five of the victims were from Meghalaya and four from West Bengal. Two people have been arrested in that case, with officials suspecting a short circuit caused the fire.