The death toll from the fire in Stephen Court here rose to 24 on Wednesday as firefighters discovered more charred bodies. Police arrested two caretakers of the 150-year-old heritage structure. The toll is expected to go up since 25-30 people are still missing.
The government has announced a compensation of Rs2 lakh each for the families of those killed and has decided to foot the hospital expenses of those injured.
After appearing to be dithering, the police filed a complaint against the owner of the building and arrested two of its caretakers, Tarun Bagaria and Ramshankar Singh. The arrests followed widespread allegations that the building lacked safety measures and that the only fire escape was shut, preventing people from fleeing. The building’s owner, Sanjay Bagaria, is on the run.
A six-member forensic team, which visited the site, said preliminary evidence indicated a short circuit had caused the fire. “The fifth and sixth floors were not fit to be lived in,” Dhurjoti Sengupta, who led the team, said.
Stephen Court, built by Armenian Stephen Arathoon in 1910, was mired in darkness and flooded with water sprayed to douse the blaze that raged for hours. The Flurys Tea Room, restaurant Peter Cat and other eating joints in the building were closed. A few hundred onlookers stood on Park Street, which was thrown open for traffic on Wednesday but still lacked the normal bustle.
West Bengal home secretary Ardhendu Sen said more bodies could be found. “It will take some time [to clear the rubble]. We cannot do it fast. We have to be careful as there are chances of recovering more bodies,” he said.
A fireman, tired after working non-stop for over 24 hours, yelled at a scribe who asked why there were no nets to catch people falling from upper floors. “Nowhere in India will you see such nets,” he said.
Friends and relatives of the dead and the injured crowded SSKM Hospital as charred bodies were brought in. Some victims could be identified only by their rings, watches or chains. Twins Jay and Vijay Khandelwal, 18, were among the dead. “They were born on the same day, and died together,” their father said.
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