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Kolkata. A major accident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, when a massive fire broke out in a five-storey building. Many hotels were operating in this building located on Mirza Ghalib Street in central Kolkata. At least 9 people died due to the fire, while 6 people are said to be injured. A four-year-old child is also among the dead.

According to police, the fire broke out around 1:45 pm on Wednesday night. As soon as the information was received, five fire brigade vehicles reached the spot. Police and disaster management department teams immediately started relief and rescue operations. According to officials, about 80 people were evacuated safely from the building.

There was an atmosphere of shouting and screaming in the building-
After the fire, the entire building was filled with smoke. The smoke was so heavy that firefighters faced great difficulty in reaching the upper floors through the stairs.

The firemen brought the fire under control after a lot of effort. At present the work of cooling the building is going on. Police have expressed apprehension that the death toll may increase.

Bangladeshi citizens were also among the dead.
West Bengal Fire Minister Kaushik Choudhary visited the spot. He said that the process of identification of the dead is going on. According to him, apart from Indian citizens, Bangladeshi citizens are also included among the dead.

The minister said that the condition of the building was very bad and many hotels were operating in it.

Possibility of fire due to short circuit-
In the preliminary investigation, short circuit is suspected to be the cause of the fire. However, the actual cause of the fire will become clear only after forensic investigation.

According to officials, there is also a possibility of negligence on the part of the management of the building in following the rules to safety and construction. Alleged irregularities in hotel operations are also being investigated.

Hotel owner absconding, police engaged in search-
According to the police, the hotel owner is absconding after the incident. The process of registering the case has been started at New Market police station. Police are raiding possible locations including his house in search of the accused.

The investigating agencies are also finding out whether other necessary standards including fire safety were followed in the building or not.

Second major hotel fire in two days-
This is the second major hotel fire in West Bengal within a few days. Earlier, in the early hours of Monday, 9 people had died in a fire in a four-storey hotel in Tarapith in Birbhum district.

Five people of the same family from Meghalaya also lost their lives in that accident. The police had detained two people including hotel owner Kalyan Pal. The fire broke out in the hotel when most people were sleeping and many guests were trapped in their rooms due to the smoke.

After these frequent accidents, questions are being raised on the fire safety system of hotels and multi-storey buildings in West Bengal.