8 Bangladeshis killed in Kolkata hotel fire, Indian media says; 5 identified
Of the nine people who perished in a fire at a hotel in Kolkata on Wednesday, eight were Bangladeshis, Indian daily The Hindu reported.
The Bangladesh’s Deputy High Commission in Kolkata, however, put the number at five.
Among those, details of five of the victims were also found, with four belonging to the same family, Bangladesh’s Deputy High Commission in Kolkata said on Wednesday.
The fire started around 2am. The nine casualties were due to suffocation from the smoke. At least 15 others, including six Bangladeshis, were rescued from the hotel Sikkha Inn, located in Mirza Ghalib Street in Kolkata.
The hotel is said to be frequented by Bangladeshi tourists. It is located on the second storey of a five-storeyed building housing several guest houses.
Victims from the same family were identified as Debashish Dutta, 37, his wife Afsana Shimmin, 25, their son Swarnashish Dutta, 2, and Afsana’s father Akram Ali, 64.
Meanwhile, The Daily Star identified another victim as Ahmed Babu, 37, a cosmetics trader from Savar, who was set to return home today.
Debashish Dutta was a Kushtia correspondent for Ajker Patrika and Channel 9, according to the latest information.
The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata contacted the families of the five identified victims, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Mohammad Khaled, Bangladesh’s deputy high commissioner in Kolkata, earlier confirmed the identities to media, saying an official from the mission had visited the police station and morgue and, together with local police, identified the victims.
Local police have also confirmed that five of the deceased were Bangladeshi nationals, while efforts are continuing to determine whether any other Bangladeshis were among the victims.
Among a number of differing reports, the death toll has seen updates throughout the day.
Other media reports put the number of killed Bangladeshis at nine, as cited earlier by Daily Waadaa.