KOLKATA’S PARK STREET FIRE: DEATH TOLL RISES TO 24

NDTV.com
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March 24 2010
India

NDTV Correspondent, Wednesday March 24, 2010, Kolkata

Kolkata’s police commissioner Gautam Chakraborty said on Wednesday
that the death toll in in the massive fire at Stephen Court was high
because the gate to the roof was locked. Several charred bodies were
found near this door, indicating that people desperately tried to
escape but couldn’t.

He also added that the police and fire brigade personnel had faced
difficulties in conducting rescue operations inside Stephen Court as
they were not provided the building plan.

"The fifth and sixth floors of the building were constructed
illegally. These were later regularised," he told reporters, adding
that the promoter who built the two floors was absconding after
Tuesday’s blaze.

"We had asked the building association president for a plan of the
building and a list of tenants, but these were not provided to us. If
we had the list, we could have saved some more people," he said.

An FIR will also be filed by fire department against the owner of
the building.

The fire at the 150-year-old building home to two of the city’s
best known restaurants – the iconic Flury’s and Peter Cat – killed
24 people on Tuesday and left about 18 injured, eight of whom are
critical. Firemen recovered 17 bodies overnight as they went from
door to door on the 5th, 6th and 7th floor of the building. Of the
12 bodies identified so far, one is that of a child. At least five
people had jumped to their death as the fire raged.

The fire began at 2.15 pm on Tuesday. It was brought under control at
about 10.30 pm. Initial findings suggest a short circuit or cylinder
burst may have caused it. The fire, that may have started in a lift
between the 5th and 6th floors soon spread upwards and sideways,
forcing people out of windows onto narrow parapets and ledges as they
waited to be rescued.

Reports said at least one woman missed her step and fell five floors
below. "We saw a lady jumping off, but she missed the AC she was
aiming for and crashed down," an eyewitness Raja Guha, said.

For over four hours, over 100 firemen battled the Park Street inferno
with rescue operations hampered by lack of equipment, massive crowds
and even traffic.

The first four fire engines arrived at the spot soon after the fire
started from the nearby Free School Street fire station. But they could
do little as they did not have the equipment needed to tackle the fire.

Meanwhile, panicky people trapped in the building tried to escape by
climbing down rickety ladders or even a rope. Hydraulic ladders were
needed to transport fire personnel to the higher floors where the fire
raged, but these took more than an hour to get to the site as the fire
engines equipped with the ladders were stored in not-so-close Behala.

The police said some of the delays were unavoidable. "The hydraulic
ladders which were critical to the rescue were stored in Behala. It
takes time through Kolkata’s traffic to reach from Behala to Park
Street," said Joint Commissioner of Police Javed Shamim.

West Bengal Minister for Fire and Emergency Services, Pratim Chatterjee
too pointed out that in Kolkata traffic, "It takes one hour to cover
a 15 km journey, that is why the delay took place in the fire tenders
reaching there."

Even as the fire raged, the blame game had begun. Trinamool leader and
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjie, the first politician to reach the
scene of the fire, wanted answers. "Where is the disaster management?

There is none," she said.

There have been fires in Kolkata before, this being the third major
one in less than two years, but there have not been any fatalities
before this. As the 150-year-old building built by Kolkata’s Armenian
community went up in flames, it left behind many questions. Were fire
safety norms callously ignored? Could precious lives have been saved?

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress