A fire in a multi-storeyed building in Kolkata claimed at least seven lives on Monday. The building which caught fire houses zonal offices of Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway. Commenting on the incident, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said that a high-level inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Out of the seven deceased, four were firefighters, one assistant sub-inspector posted at the Hare Street police station and one RPF personnel, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Basu said.
“Sincere condolences to the families of the 9 brave deceased including the 4 firefighters, 2 railways personnel and a police ASI who were fighting the fire at the Eastern Railways Strand road office in Kolkata,” ANI quoted Goyal as saying.
“All possible assistance has been provided by Railways to State Govt during this unfortunate fire accident. A high-level inquiry consisting of four Principal heads of Railway departments has been ordered to ascertain cause of fire,” Goyal further added.
Manoj Joshi, General Manager Eastern Railway, said: “Officers of railways were present there, efforts were being made for whatever was required. Maybe any map wasn’t made available immediately, staff members of railways were present to guide about the building.”
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who rushed to the spot in the city’s central business district, announced that the state government will pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those killed in the blaze and government job to the kin of each victim.
