[ad_1]
Nine people were killed in a devastating fire at the Eastern Railway’s New Coalghat building on Strand Road in West Bengal, India, on Monday night. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed regret over the incident.
In a tweet on Tuesday morning, Narendra Modi wrote: “Sorry about the terrible fire in Kolkata.” I pay my respects to the families of those who died. Hopefully the injured will recover soon.
Among the dead were Perth Sarathi Mandal, deputy commercial director of the railways, four firefighters, a police officer and a member of the RPF, said Kolkata Police Commissioner Soumen Mitra.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the scene in the evening. He said the railroad is a very old building. Horrible accident. The bodies of seven people who came to put out the fire have been found (until then). The death toll could rise further. The police commissioner said the search for the two is still continuing.
He added that they (the dead) went to the elevator. There the fire burned like lightning. Very sad. In addition to compensation of Tk 10 lakh to each family of the deceased, one family member will be assigned a government job. Everyone fought hard to control the fire.
Fire Minister Sujit Basu said he had gone up to the 13th floor at night with firefighters and police officers to see the body himself.
He also said that after getting on the elevator and reaching the 13th floor, after opening the elevator door, they were almost burned in the fire. We went up the stairs and saw the bodies of five people in the elevator. The bodies of two more people fell outside. Looking at the clothes, it is understood that four of them are firefighters. Also, an RPF and an ASI from the Hare Street Police Station. No person could be identified.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee complained that it was a train station. But none came. Sujit informed me that the building design was being sought. That would have helped control the fire. However, he did not cooperate in the case. I don’t want to do politics with the accident.
The fire minister said that it would be investigated why the elevator was used.
Police said the fire broke out at 6:10 p.m. Monday. In four hours, the situation was under control. But by then, that has turned into a loss.
Source: India Today
[ad_2]
