Kolkata hotel fire kills five Bangladeshis among nine

A fire at the budget Shika Inn hotel in Kolkata killed nine people, including five Bangladeshi nationals, early Wednesday, officials said.

Anuj Sharma, the fire services director of West Bengal state, said the dead included a child. He said thick smoke filled the hotel and some victims were found in bathrooms.

Bangladesh's deputy high commission in Kolkata said Indian authorities told it that five of those killed were Bangladeshi nationals. It said four of them were from the same family. Santosh Pathak, a member of West Bengal's ruling party, said the Bangladeshi nationals had travelled to Kolkata for medical treatment.

Sharma said preliminary information suggested an air conditioner at the hotel may have exploded and caused the blaze. A forensic team was sent to examine the scene after the fire was brought under control.

Police said at least 60 guests were staying at the hotel. Media reports said six people were injured and taken to hospital.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said a five-member team would conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the fire. State fire minister Kaushik Chaudhary said police were probing possible safety lapses at the hotel, which is in a crowded part of Kolkata.

Firefighters used ladders to enter the building through windows and rescue people who were trapped. The Press Trust of India quoted a police officer as saying dense smoke made it difficult for firefighters to climb the staircase and reach upper floors.

Atiyar Rehman, a guest from Satkhira in Bangladesh, told The Indian Express that the hotel had no fire safety system and that he escaped after waking up struggling to breathe in the smoke.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “extremely pained” by the loss of life and said the local administration was assisting those affected.

The Kolkata blaze came two days after eight people were killed in another hotel fire in Tarapith, a holy town in West Bengal where Hindu devotees had gathered for the sacred month of Shravan.