Nueva Delhi – A fire crossed a hotel in the city of Kolkata in Eastern India, killing at least 14 people, police said Wednesday. The senior police officer Kumar Verma told journalists that the fire exploded Tuesday night at the Rituraj Hotel in the center of Kolkata and was soaked after an effort that played six fire trucks. The cause of fire was not clear immediately.
Photos and videos transported in the Indian media showed the people trying to escape through the windows and narrow crops of the building.
The Kolkata newspaper reported that at least one person died when he jumped from a balcony trying to escape.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi published in X that he was “distressed” for the loss of lives in fire.
Sahiba Chawdhary/Reuters
The fires are common in India, where builders and residents often mock construction laws and security codes. Activists say that security corners builders to save costs and have accused the civic authorities of negligence and apathy.
In 2022, at least 27 people were killed when a mass fire broke a four -story commercial building in New Delhi.