Two killed in Kolkata hotel fire

A major fire broke out at a city hotel here early on Thursday killing two persons and injuring at least six others, a fire brigade official said.

Two hotel officials were held for alleged negligence, police said.

"The fire broke out at Central Kolkata's Golden Park Hotel at around 2.55 a.m. on Thursday. Hotel guests Anup Agarwal and Jugal Kishor Gupta succumbed to the injuries caused by the blaze," a fire official confirmed.

"We managed to rescue 31 people from the hotel. Six of them who suffered from burn injuries or smoke inhalation were shifted to the SSKM Hospital," he added.

Police detained two officials of the hotel for interrogation.

As many as 10 fire tenders were pressed into service that worked for two hours to control the blaze.

Assuring that the fire is completely under control, city mayor Sovan Chatterjee alleged lack of proper fire prevention protocols at the hotel and said the fire fighting equipment present in the building also did not work properly.

"Proper fire fighting protocol in the hotel was lacking. The air conditioning ducts were not properly sealed. As a result the fire quickly travelled to the top floor of the five-storied hotel building," Chatterjee alleged.

"The entire hotel was covered by smoke. The fire fighting equipment at the hotel also did not work properly during the emergency," he added.

--IANS

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