Kolkata fire refuses to die

The fire at Burrabazar, Kolkata’s central business district, continued to smolder for the fourth day on Tuesday, as fire department officials tried in vain to bring it under control. “Just when we thought we had managed to bring the fire under control there was a small explosion at the top floor in the evening and the building was once again engulfed by surging flames,” a fire department official said.

A sophisticated aerial ladder was brought from Haldia Petrochemicals to reach the 13th floor that is still burning. “The intensity of the blaze had come down but the evening breeze ignited it further,” local MP Sudhanshu Sil said.

State Fire Services Minister Pratim Chatterjee, however, claimed the blaze was under control and would soon be put out. He said three fire department officials had been injured since Saturday.

Chatterjee said the state government would form an inquiry committee comprising the forensic department, the fire brigade and police to determine the cause of the fire. Several industrialists, NGOs and citizens’ groups, including BK Birla, have come forward to help the traders who lost their livelihood to the devastating fire.