A fire broke out at a hotel in Kolkata, the capital of India's West Bengal state, in the early hours of Wednesday, killing at least nine people and injuring six, police said, as reported by infohub.kz.
According to the Press Trust of India news agency, the blaze erupted around 1:45 a.m. at a hotel in central Kolkata, close to the West Bengal Fire Department headquarters. Five fire engines were deployed to bring the blaze under control, while police and disaster management teams carried out rescue operations. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
A police officer told the agency that firefighters struggled to reach people trapped on the upper floors as thick smoke engulfed the building. The officer said the fire was brought under control, and the immediate focus was on rescuing anyone still trapped inside and investigating the cause, which was not immediately known.
Police officials, citing PTI, confirmed nine deaths, but warned the toll could rise. Deadly fires, often linked to electrical faults or gas cylinder explosions, are common in India, where investigators have frequently pointed to safety lapses and inadequate enforcement of fire regulations as contributing to recurring loss of life.
Earlier, on Monday, a blaze at a hotel in West Bengal's temple town of Tarapith left at least seven people dead and several others critically injured. In December, at least 25 people were killed after a fire ripped through a popular nightclub in western Goa state.