At least 15 people have died and 12 others have been injured in a fire of undetermined cause that broke out in a hotel in Kolkata, northern India, police announced on Wednesday.
City police chief Manoj Kumar Verma told AFP, “The death toll has reached 15, including two children and a woman.”
He added, “12 people suffered burns.”
The fire erupted for reasons not yet clear on Tuesday evening shortly after 8:00 PM local time (2:30 PM GMT) at the Ritvaraj Hotel, located in the heart of the large city with a population of 15 million.
At the time of the fire, there were 88 guests in the hotel, which has 42 rooms.
The police chief explained, “The hotel turned into a furnace after the fire broke out, and many of the victims appeared to have died from smoke inhalation.”
Rescue teams saved 20 people who took refuge on the hotel roof to escape the flames, according to Verma. Firefighters managed to pull five individuals from inside the hotel.
The Press Trust of India reported that “many people were seen trying to escape through the narrow windows of the building.” The agency broadcast footage of the hotel being engulfed in flames.
Similarly, the Telegraph newspaper in Kolkata reported that at least one person died “after jumping from a balcony in an attempt to escape.”
In a message on X (formerly Twitter), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences to the victims’ families and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
Building fires are common in India due to a lack of equipment to prevent them and disregard for safety regulations.
Last year, six people died in a fire that broke out in a hotel in Patna, Bihar, in eastern India.
