Narrow Exits, No Fire Safety: Inside Kolkata Hotel Where 9 Died In Fire

The deadly fire at a Kolkata hotel that claimed nine lives early today has exposed serious safety lapses at the property, with authorities finding that the building lacked proper fire safety measures and had narrow passages that may have hampered evacuation efforts. The fire broke out around 2:00 am at Hotel Sikha Inn in Florence Mansion, an old G+4 building on Mirza Ghalib Street under the New Market police station area. Police said nine people, including a child and two women, died in the incident, while around 60 others were rescued from the building. Officials said the victims appeared to have died due to smoke inhalation rather than burn injuries. "When the nine bodies were brought out of the hotel building premises, there were not many burn injuries on their bodies. In fact, as told to us by other residents of the hotel, who have been safely evacuated, the intensity of the fire within the building was not high. But the entire complex was covered in thick black smoke, thereby causing severe breathing problems. There comes the question of severe lapses in the ventilation facilities," said a state fire services department official present at the spot, news agency IANS reported.