Kolkata, August 20: In a devastating fire that broke out at a hotel on Mirza Ghalib Street in central Kolkata, police have identified six of the nine victims. Among them are five Bangladeshi nationals and one young man from Giridih, Jharkhand.
According to the police, the five Bangladeshi victims were tourists, while the Giridih resident, Sandeep Paswan, worked as reception staff at the hotel.
Four of the Bangladeshi tourists belonged to the same family. They have been identified as Debashish Dutta, his wife Afsana Sharmin, their three-year-old son Swarnashish Dutta, and Afsana’s father, Mohammad Akram.
The family had traveled to Kolkata for Akram’s medical treatment and hailed from the Kushtia district of Bangladesh. Debashish Dutta was a journalist by profession.
The fifth Bangladeshi victim has been identified as Babu Ahmed, who was from Dhaka.
Sandeep Paswan, the young man from Giridih, was employed at the hotel.
Authorities are still working to identify the remaining three victims. Preliminary investigations indicate that all nine fatalities were due to asphyxiation rather than burns. No arrests have been made in connection with the incident so far.
In response to the tragedy, the West Bengal government has decided to conduct a comprehensive audit of all hotels, lodges, and guest houses operating in the Mirza Ghalib Street area. This audit will assess safety measures and fire compliance standards.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata Police have formed a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the fire incident, led by an officer at the deputy commissioner level from the detective department.
The building falls under the jurisdiction of the New Market police station, which has taken cognizance of the case and registered a complaint. The state fire service department has also filed a separate complaint regarding the incident.
Police are investigating the cause of the fire, as well as the fire safety measures, emergency exits, and other safety standards in the building.
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