Kolkata Hotel Fire: Nine Dead After Blaze Breaks Out On Mirza Ghalib Street

Nine people, including two women and a child, died after a fire broke out inside a hotel building on Mirza Ghalib Street in Central Kolkata early Wednesday.

Preliminary assessments from the police and West Bengal Fire Services suggest that the victims died from suffocation rather than extensive burn injuries.

A fire services official said the bodies showed few visible burn injuries when rescuers recovered them from the building.

The official added that dense black smoke had spread throughout the premises and severely affected breathing.

The incident has drawn attention to the building’s ventilation arrangements, which officials are examining as part of the initial assessment.

Officials said the building had extremely narrow entry and exit points, making it difficult for occupants to escape quickly.

Heavy smoke further reduced visibility and reportedly left people inside struggling to identify the correct route to safety.

A Kolkata Police officer said investigators initially believed that only one hotel operated from the building.

Authorities later discovered that several hotels and guest houses occupied different floors.

Police said each floor contained a hotel or guest house with small rooms and narrow corridors.

According to officials, the blaze began inside a hotel on the third floor.

Although the flames initially appeared limited, smoke rapidly spread through the building and created hazardous conditions for occupants.

Residents said the Mirza Ghalib Street locality houses numerous affordable hotels that attract visitors from across India and other countries.

A local medicine shop owner claimed that many Bangladeshi visitors stay in these establishments while travelling to Kolkata for medical treatment.

Authorities have not yet confirmed whether any Bangladeshi nationals were among the deceased.

Local BJP leader Santosh Pathak alleged that several hotels in the locality had emerged without proper authorisation over the years.

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