At least 14 people are dead, and two others were seriously injured in a devastating hotel fire on Tuesday.
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According to the BBC, the incident occurred at the Rituraj Hotel in Kolkata, India, which is located in the eastern state of West Bengal. As of early Wednesday morning, crews were still carrying out rescue operations.
Officials shared that the cause of the fire remains unknown, and law enforcement has begun an investigation into the incident.
The state’s social welfare minister, Sashi Panja, said the fire was an “unfortunate incident.”
“The fire brigade tried to rescue all the people, but some of them unfortunately died because of suffocation,” Panja explained. “Two children were among those killed.”
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X (formerly Twitter) to speak out about the hotel fire. He shared that he was “anguished by the loss of the lives” and announced financial compensation to the victims’ families.
The hotel fire in Kolkata occurred just months after 10 babies were killed in Uttar Pradesh. A fire broke out in the neonatal unit of a hospital in Jhansi district.
A few months before that blaze, a fire broke out at a games arcade in the western state of Gujarat, claiming the lives of 27 people.
Guests at the Hotel Avoided the Fire by Fleeing to the Building’s Rooftop
Witnesses inside the hotel revealed that they were forced to flee to the building’s rooftop and use flashlights on their phones to signal those below for help.
Indian Express further reported that firefighters responding to the blaze used hydraulic ladders to rescue those who escaped from the fire by climbing onto ledges outside of their room windows.
Meanwhile, Kolkata police chief Manoj Kumar Verma said that officials will investigate why hotel guests had difficulty fleeing the fire. They are also checking to see if the fire exits were operational.