9 Killed In Railway Building Fire In Kolkata, PM Modi Condoles

Kolkata: At least nine persons were killed in a major fire that broke out on the 13th floor of a multi-storeyed building in Kolkata's Strand Road area on Monday evening.

Among the dead, four were fire brigade officials, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Kolkata's Hare Street police station, a senior railway official and a security person, sources said. Two persons who were missing in the incident were also found dead.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal have offered Sincere condolences to the families of the 9 brave deceased in the incident.

Meanwhile, "the 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 in a statement."

It is an unfortunate incident. At least seven people were killed in the blaze, including four fire brigade officers and an ASI of Hare Street police station. Two railways officers were also killed in the fire," West Bengal fire services minister Sujit Bose said.

West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee, who rushed to the spot in the city's central business district, announced that 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.

"We lost seven people. Four of them were firefighters who lost their lives inside a lift which they used to reach upstairs quickly. The lift got electrocuted. This is very unfortunate," Banerjee said.

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.

(With Inputs From Poonam Singh)