A 12-year-old boy and an elderly woman were killed in a fire that broke out in a five-storey residential building at Ganesh Chandra Avenue in Kolkata on Friday night.
All the other residents of the building have been rescued and the fire is, at present, under control, State Fire Services Minister Sujit Bose said.
“The boy had jumped off the third floor of the building out of panic. He was shifted to a hospital where he died a few minutes ago. The body of the old woman was recovered from a bathroom of the building. Two other residents have also suffered injuries. They have been admitted to a hospital,” a senior police official said.
The fire broke out in the first floor of the building and spread to the upper floors, a Fire Brigade official said. “All the residents have been rescued. The fire is also under control. Presently cooling off is being done,” Bose told reporters.
At least 25 fire tenders and a hydraulic ladder were deployed to rescue those trapped inside the building and to douse the blaze, the officials said.
The blaze was reportedly triggered by a short circuit in the main electrical box and spread when it came in contact with a parked motorcycle and other inflammable items stored on the ground floor.
“Preliminary inquiry revealed that there was only one entry and exit gate for the building and the exit gate was blocked due to parked motorcycles. We have repeatedly told people to maintain fire safety rules in high-rises, but despite our repeated requests we have found that people are not following the rules,” Bose added.
“This could have been worse, but I would like to thank the fire department officials for their prompt action in rescuing people,” he added.
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