With the death of thirty three people so far, the Stephen Court fire has recorded the highest-ever death toll in any fire incident in the metropolis even as search for the missing is still on.
     
"Never in the past, any fire has caused so much loss of lives in Kolkata either in any residential premises or any commercial complexes, Fire Services Minister Pratim Chatterjee told PTI here.
    
"In my 14-year stint as minister, this is the worst fire tragedy that claimed so many lives," Chatterjee said.
     
The highest fire death-count was recorded at Sodepur in North 24-parganas district, bordering Kolkata, where a blaze claimed 13 lives in a ready-made garment centre on August 16, 2008.
     
Eleven workers were charred to death in a locked room during a fire at a leather goods factory at Topsia in east Kolkata on November 22, 2006.
      
These apart, no casualty to this magnitude was reported in any other fire-related mishaps in the metropolis or its vicinity so far, he said.