logo
Kolkata fire survivors recollect ‘terrifying' incident

Kolkata fire survivors recollect ‘terrifying' incident

The Hindu30-04-2025
A 10-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy from Tamil Nadu, who were visiting West Bengal with their family, were among the casualties of a fire in a hotel in central Kolkata's Burrabazar, which took at least 14 lives on Tuesday night.
On Wednesday (April 30, 2025), after identity verification, the post-mortem of the two children was completed at Kolkata's Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital (NRSMCH). A sombre atmosphere prevailed outside the hospital morgue, where the bodies of five victims had been sent for post-mortem.
The two children were identified as P. Rathin and P. Diya by the police. The family hails from the southern State's Karur district, and was on a tour of West Bengal for the past few days.
The bereaved mother, who waited at the hospital morgue for hours on Wednesday afternoon, left in the evening, sobbing profusely as the bodies of her children were taken out in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation's (KMC) hearse vans.
Weeping, she said her son would go everywhere with his father. 'Yesterday, they did not come with us when we stepped out. My son wanted to watch TV. Why did I leave them behind? Why did we not take them along?' she said, overtaken by grief.
'My children were with me for only a few years. How can I go on without them now? My husband and I were raising them with so much labour and love. He would pick them up; they would kiss us on our cheeks,' she said, speaking in both Tamil and English.
Three acquaintances, possibly Kolkata locals, accompanied her. The grief-stricken mother was surrounded by police personnel and KMC officials, stationed through the day at the NRSMCH.
A high-ranking KMC official told The Hindu that arrangements had been made to preserve the bodies of the deceased in the mortuary till the bereaved families could arrange to take them home.
Preliminary reports have suggested 'those who died were victims of suffocation/jumping etc.', West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee posted on social media.
Terror-stricken
After the fire broke out at about 8.15 p.m. on Tuesday night, several of the hotel's guests as well as staff were seen jumping from the higher floors to escape. Many were rescued by Fire Services personnel. Survivors said the staircase of the hotel had filled with dense and toxic smoke, as did the corridors, rendering them inaccessible.
Neha and Akash Agarwal from Odisha said they had broken the windows of their room to stand on the flat protruding area outside in order to escape.
'Our nephew called us and said a fire had broken out, and that we should leave immediately. We thought of taking the stairs, but when we opened the door to our room, we saw the place was filled with smoke. I shut the door and broke the glass window so that we could breathe. I asked my wife and nephew to wait on the platform on the outer wall of the building,' Mr. Agarwal told local media persons.
His wife said they were in Kolkata on a holiday and could not have imagined experiencing such a 'terrifying' incident. 'The fire alarms and firefighting equipment in the hotel were all defunct. The hotel staff did not help either. The only help we got while escaping was from the police and the Fire Services personnel,' the couple said.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Tanushree Dutta to file police report detailing five years of harassment after emotional video outburst
Tanushree Dutta to file police report detailing five years of harassment after emotional video outburst

Mint

time16 minutes ago

  • Mint

Tanushree Dutta to file police report detailing five years of harassment after emotional video outburst

Actor Tanushree Dutta has revealed that her recent emotional video on Instagram was a spontaneous outburst triggered by years of distress and harassment. Speaking to the media about the widely circulated video, Dutta said, "It was an outburst of the incidents happened in the last five years." While the specific incident that prompted her to contact the police was not major in isolation, Dutta explained that it was simply the tipping point. 'That video was spontaneous. But what I have been facing for the last almost five years, especially since 2020… That video was a culmination of what I have faced in the past five years,' she said. She further added, 'The incident that happened that day was not a very big one, but in the past five years so much has happened with me, that maybe it was time for it all to come out. Maybe it was all transpired by Mahadev. I was crying, thinking why is all this happening to me.' According to Dutta, after the video, she called the police who arrived for a brief inspection. 'I told them that this incident isn't the only thing and that lots of strange things have been happening with me for the past five years.' The police, after their preliminary visit, advised her to present her full account to senior officials. 'The police advised her to meet with the senior officials and to tell them everything in detail. So basically, the police has been informed but the details are yet to be given,' she shared. Dutta confirmed she plans to visit the station on Monday, July 28, to file a comprehensive report. 'I will go on Monday (July 28), along with my advocate and some friends. I will write down everything that has happened in the last five years, so that I don't forget anything.' Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta, known for sparking India's #MeToo movement in 2018, has once again raised serious concerns about her safety. In a heart-wrenching video shared on Instagram on Tuesday, the 'Aashiq Banaya Aapne' star was seen visibly distraught and tearful, claiming she is being harassed in her own home. In the video, Dutta can be seen wiping away tears as she pleads for help. Speaking both in English and Hindi, she revealed, 'Guys, I am being harassed in my own home. Mujhe mere hi ghar mein pareshaan kiya jaa raha hai. I just called the cops. They came and asked me to come to the police station to launch a proper complaint. I will probably go tomorrow or day after. I am not well.'

‘Darr chor ko lagta hai... We are not scared': 11/7 Mumbai train blast accused hopeful of Supreme Court acquittal
‘Darr chor ko lagta hai... We are not scared': 11/7 Mumbai train blast accused hopeful of Supreme Court acquittal

Time of India

time15 hours ago

  • Time of India

‘Darr chor ko lagta hai... We are not scared': 11/7 Mumbai train blast accused hopeful of Supreme Court acquittal

Mumbai train blasts case by the Bombay High Court, several accused expressed optimism about a favorable outcome in the Supreme Court MUMBAI: Most of the accused in the 11/7 Mumbai train bombings acquitted by Bombay high court said that they were hopeful that they would be acquitted by Supreme Court as well. A relative of Naved Hussain, who was given the death sentence by a trial court and was acquitted by the high court, said it was a process of law. "We would have been disappointed if the apex court had asked the men to return to jail. That is not the case. We will fight this case legally in Supreme Court and are sure to win it there too," said the relative. Dr Tanvir Ansari, who was termed a conspirator in the case and was acquitted, said, "Chor ko darr lagta hai (A thief feels scared). We are innocent. We are not scared. The high court judgment has covered all the angles. We will see it legally." Ansari had lost his mother while in jail. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai Shareeful Rehman, elder brother of acquitted accused Zameer Shaikh, said that there was uncertainty till SC issued an order Thursday. "Now we are relaxed. We are hopeful that we will win our case in Supreme Court," said Rehman. Shaikh had lost both his parents during his time in prison. During the last 19 years that the 12 accused were in jail, either the mother or father or both of a majority of the them passed away. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Is this legal? Access all TV channels without a subscription! Techno Mag Learn More Undo The wife of Majid Shafi Shaikh died due to medical complications while he was incarcerated. Sohail Shaikh said, "This stay is not the victory of lies of the ATS. This is a procedure. The ATS should not think it has won. The lies have been going on for the last 19 years." Another acquitted accused said the trial court ignored the torture they had suffered and the fake confessions prepared by the police. He said the high court looked into all aspects, examined all angles and acquitted them. Sajid Ansari, another acquitted accused, said he had faith in Allah and the judiciary. "The lawyers and Jamiat-ul-Ulema are fighting our case. We are sure of winning it at SC," Sajid said. While in prison, he completed seven certificate courses including those on human rights, Arabic language, tourism studies, AIDS and family education, teaching of English, and BA, MA in political science; he has also completed two years of LLB. His mother and two sisters passed away while he was in jail. Another acquitted accused, Muzammil Shaikh, who worked as a database administrator in Bengaluru, said that he lost both parents during his time in jail.

Lower judiciary treated like ‘shudras', ‘les misérables', High Court judges like ‘savarnas': Madhya Pradesh HC quashes termination of district judge
Lower judiciary treated like ‘shudras', ‘les misérables', High Court judges like ‘savarnas': Madhya Pradesh HC quashes termination of district judge

Indian Express

time16 hours ago

  • Indian Express

Lower judiciary treated like ‘shudras', ‘les misérables', High Court judges like ‘savarnas': Madhya Pradesh HC quashes termination of district judge

In a scathing comment on judicial power structures, a Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has likened the relationship between the High Court and the District Judiciary to a caste system, observing that judges in the lower judiciary are treated like 'shudras' and 'les misérables', while High Court judges function with the entitlement of 'savarnas'. The French term, 'les misérables', translates to 'the miserable ones' in English and is commonly used to refer to the poor and marginalised, as in Victor Hugo's French novel of the same name. A Division Bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Dinesh Kumar Paliwal made the observations on July 14 while quashing the termination of former Additional District and Sessions Judge Jagat Mohan Chaturvedi. He was dismissed in 2014 after passing divergent bail orders in cases linked to the Vyapam scam. The court said the judicial officer had suffered 'gross injustice' and ordered the restoration of his pensionary benefits. It also imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakh on the state for the 'hardships he and his family were subjected to' and 'the humiliation in society that he had to face, only on account of passing judicial orders, without an iota of material coming on record to even establish corruption even on the anvil of preponderance of probability'. Speaking on the entrenched hierarchy in the judiciary, the Bench observed, 'The relationship between District Judiciary and the High Court in the state is not based on mutual respect for each other, but one where a sense of fear and inferiority is consciously instilled by one on the subconscious of the other. At a subliminal level, the penumbra of the caste system manifests in the judicial structure in this state where those in the High Court are the savarnas and the shudras are the les misérables of the District Judiciary.' Describing the dynamic between the High Court and the lower courts, the judges said, 'The dismal relationship between the Judges of the High Court and the Judges of the District Judiciary is one between a feudal lord and serf.' 'The body language of the Judges of the District Judiciary when they greet a Judge of the High Court stops short of grovelling before the High Court Judge, making the Judges of the District Judiciary the only identifiable species of invertebrate mammals,' they said. The Bench further added, 'Instances of the judges of the District Judiciary personally attending to Judges of the High Court (as desired by them) on railway platforms and waiting on them with refreshments, are commonplace, thus perpetuating a colonial decadence with a sense of entitlement.' Judges of the district judiciary deputed to work at the High Court registry 'are almost never offered a seat by the Judges of the High Court, and on a rare occasion when they are, they are hesitant to sit down before the High Court Judge,' the Bench said. The court also observed that the 'subjugation and enslavement of the psyche of the Judges of the District Judiciary is complete and irreversible, so it seems'. 'An overbearing High Court, ever willing to excoriate the District Judiciary for the most innocuous of its errors, ensures that District Judiciary is kept under perpetual and morbid fear of punishment,' it said. 'The fear of the District Judiciary is understandable. They have families, children who go to school, parents undergoing treatment, a home to be built, savings to be accumulated and when the High Court terminates his service abruptly…he and his entire family are out on the streets with no pension and the stigma of facing a society that suspects his integrity,' the court said. The court observed that a 'District Judiciary which is compelled to work perpetually under this fear cannot dispense justice and instead shall dispense with justice'. It added, 'All this adds up to the passive subjugation of the District Judiciary, leaving it psychologically emaciated, which ultimately reflects in their judicial work where bails are not granted in even the most deserving cases, convictions are recorded in the absence of evidence… All this in the name of saving their job, for which the Petitioner in this case suffered, for thinking and doing differently.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store