A massive fire at a Kolkata hotel kills 14, including two children, as rescue operations continue

At least 14 people have tragically lost their lives in a devastating fire at Rituraj Hotel in Kolkata, India. The blaze, which erupted on Tuesday night, has left two others seriously injured. Among the dead are two children, and the victims, mostly hotel guests, were caught in their rooms when the fire broke out.

The fire started in the evening at the hotel, located in the heart of Kolkata, and quickly spread through the building. Authorities have confirmed that the fire has now been brought under control, but rescue efforts are ongoing, with teams still working to retrieve anyone trapped inside.

The cause of the fire remains unclear, and police have set up a special investigation team to look into the incident. Initial reports suggest that many hotel guests were trapped and unable to escape due to blocked or non-functional fire exits. Video footage from the scene shows desperate guests using flashlights on their phones to signal for help from the rooftop. Some guests even climbed out of windows and onto ledges to escape the thick smoke and flames, according to witnesses.

Firefighters responded quickly, using hydraulic ladders to rescue those stranded on the building’s exterior. However, despite these efforts, several lives were lost due to suffocation as the fire engulfed the building. The authorities are now focusing their investigation on how the fire spread and whether the hotel management had implemented sufficient safety measures.

West Bengal’s social welfare minister, Sashi Panja, described the fire as an “unfortunate incident” and offered condolences to the families of the victims. “The fire brigade tried to rescue all the people, but some of them unfortunately died because of suffocation,” she said in a statement.

In the wake of the tragedy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sorrow over the loss of life, announcing financial compensation for the victims’ families. “I am anguished by the loss of lives in the Kolkata fire. My thoughts are with the families,” Modi wrote on X.

Deadly fires in India have become all too common, with lax safety regulations and poorly planned infrastructure often blamed for the high number of fatalities. In recent months, multiple deadly blazes have claimed the lives of dozens. Last year, a fire in a games arcade in Gujarat killed 27 people, and in Uttar Pradesh, a fire in a neonatal unit resulted in the deaths of 10 newborns.

Kolkata police chief Manoj Kumar Verma has vowed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the fire. “We will look into the difficulties faced by hotel guests in evacuating and whether fire exits were operational,” he said.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also weighed in, with Sukanta Majumdar, a junior federal minister, calling for stronger enforcement of fire safety regulations in the state. “This is a clear failure of safety protocols,” he said, demanding stricter monitoring to prevent such incidents in the future.

The fire at Rituraj Hotel is the latest in a series of deadly blazes across India, highlighting the urgent need for better safety measures in public buildings. While investigations continue, the families of those lost in the fire must now cope with an unimaginable tragedy.