Fire Mishap / Six Dead, Several Injured as Fire Engulfs Five-Storey Hotel in West Bengal's Tarapith

Kolkata, Aug 17: A devastating fire engulfed a five-storey hotel in Tarapith in West Bengal's Birbhum district on Monday, leaving at least six people dead and several others critically injured.

The injured persons are currently under treatment at the nearby Rampurhat Government Medical College and Hospital. The doctors attending them said the death toll may increase as the condition of some people admitted to the hospital was extremely critical.

The fire broke out at around 5 am at 'Hotel Bideshini', which is located beside a pond and very near the Tarapith Police Station.

Initial investigation suggests that the fire broke out due to a short circuit, which quickly spread to various rooms. Most of the hotel residents were sleeping at the time. There were also many children in the hotel.

Eyewitnesses said the entire area was covered by smoke in minutes. Several people were trapped inside the hotel, and panic broke out among guests as well as the local people.

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Since the hotel is located near the police station, the cops did not take much time to reach the spot. Several fire tenders rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control. But by then, a large part of the ground floor of the hotel was burnt. Some hotel residents were charred in the fire, and some fell ill due to the smoke. The injured were rescued and sent to the hospital.

The owner of the hotel, Kalyan Paul, told media persons that fortunately the night watchman in the hotel became alert immediately after the fire broke out and activated the fire extinguishers.

Recounting the terrifying moments, Paul said, “They even disconnected the power supply cable. But by that time, the fibre-optic items in the hotel's furnishings had also caught fire. The firefighters arrived and extinguished the blaze. Although the fire was mainly restricted to the ground floor, the smoke rose to the fifth floor. The residents started coming out of their rooms in panic. There was an exit door at the back of the hotel, but many could not locate it in the panic. They started leaving through the reception, and that is when many got burnt,” Paul said.

(IANS)