7 killed in Railway building fire in Kolkata

Kolkata: At least seven people were killed in an inferno in a multi-storeyed building in Kolkata, which houses zonal offices of Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway on Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

Two more persons were also feared dead, said Banerjee who has gone to the spot.

Out of the seven deceased, four were firefighters, one assistant sub-inspector posted at the Hare Street police station and one RPF personnel, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Basu said.

The seventh person is a senior official of the Railways.

The death toll may increase as a few other persons are missing and efforts are on to find them out.

The fire, which broke out in the 13th floor of the sprawling New Koilaghat building on Strand Road at around 6.10 pm, is now under control and the cooling process is on, he said.

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.