9 Bangladeshis, including child, killed in Kolkata hotel fire
What's the story
A massive fire broke out at a hotel on Free School Street near New Market, one of the city's busiest areas, in Kolkata around 2:00am on Wednesday, killing nine people, including a child. The blaze trapped several guests inside the building and led to a major rescue operation. Initial reports suggest that an air-conditioner explosion may have triggered the fire; however, this has not been confirmed yet.
Rescue efforts
Firefighters face difficulties due to dense smoke
Four fire tenders and a disaster management team rushed to the spot after receiving information about the blaze.
Firefighters faced difficulties due to dense smoke but managed to evacuate those trapped inside.
A police officer told news agency PTI, "The dense smoke made it difficult for firefighters to climb the staircase and reach the upper floors."
The fire department said all nine were Bangladeshi nationals who had traveled to Kolkata for medical treatment, news agency ANI reported.
Previous incident
Similar incident in Birbhum
The Kolkata hotel fire comes just two days after another deadly blaze at Hotel Bideshini in Tarapith, West Bengal's Birbhum district.
The fire broke out on the ground floor around 4:30am while most guests were asleep.
Five members of a family from Meghalaya died in this incident as they tried to escape with their children but encountered flames while descending from the top floor, where they were staying.