Child among nine foreign nationals killed in Indian city as fire burns down hotel

A fire tore through a hotel in India’s eastern city of Kolkata, killing at least nine people including a child, the latest in a series of fire incidents in the state.

The blaze erupted around 2am on Wednesday when guests were asleep in the hotel located on the highly congested Mirza Ghalib Street, formerly known as Free School Street in the central part of the city.

All nine people killed in the blaze have been identified as Bangladeshi nationals who had come to India for medical treatment, the Fire Department said.

At least 28 people were rescued from the hotel, the local police said.

Six people with injuries were admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The fire broke out on the second floor of the Sikha Inn, according to reports.

Local media reports suggested the fire was triggered by an air conditioner explosion. However, the authorities said they were still investigating the cause of the blaze.

The budget hotel was located across two floors of an ageing building that housed several such small inns, mostly catering to Bangladeshi travellers in the area. Footage from Wednesday morning showed the building, which reportedly did not have any fire escape route or fire extinguishers, was completely burnt down.

The hotel only had a small gate for entrance and exit, which made it difficult for trapped people to exit the building, locals said.

Four fire tenders were pressed along with a disaster management team to bring the blaze under control, the officials said.

The incident comes just two days after another deadly blaze tore through a hotel in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, killing at least eight pilgrims.

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