At least 15 people, including two children and a woman, lost their lives in a devastating fire that engulfed the Rituraj Hotel in central Kolkata on Tuesday evening. Authorities report that many victims died from suffocation as the blaze turned the building into a “gas chamber.”
Kolkata police chief Manoj Verma confirmed the rising death toll and said an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire. Roughly a dozen people are being treated for burns, while many others were rescued from the hotel’s rooms and rooftop.
The hotel had 88 guests at the time of the incident, which occurred in a densely packed business district. According to local reports, some guests were seen escaping through windows and narrow ledges, and at least one man died after jumping from the rooftop in a desperate bid to escape.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences to the victims’ families and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
Fires are tragically common in India due to lax enforcement of safety codes and inadequate firefighting infrastructure. This incident follows several similar fatal blazes across the country in recent years.
