Burnt Kolkata building lacked adequate fire fighting system: Official

The multistoreyed building housing offices of Eastern and South Eastern Railway, where a massive fire broke out on Monday evening killing at least nine people, did not have an adequate fire fighting system, a senior official of the West Bengal government said.

The probable cause of the blaze which damaged the entire 13th and 12th floors and part of the 11th floor of the New Koilaghat Building was an electrical short circuit on the 13th floor.

The fire fighting system on the 13th floor was "very basic" and it did not come to any help to firefighters after some time, the official of the state fire department told PTI on Tuesday.

"There was no adequate fire fighting system in the building. The one which was there did work initially but afterwards, it failed totally. We had to set up a supply line of water from downstairs. Had their system worked, lives could have been saved," he said. There was none who could provide firefighters with the plan of the building, the official said.

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"While fighting a major fire, we need the outlay of a building. A Railway official who lost his life yesterday was helping us by taking us to the spot where the fire broke out," he said.

Charred bodies of seven people were recovered from inside a lift on Monday night while badly burnt bodies of two others were found from another on early Tuesday. The victims included firefighters, a policeman, an RPF constable and two Railway officials.

Asked why they used lifts instead of stairs, the official said that the standard operating procedure (SOP) is not to use elevators in case of a fire.

"They used one of the four lifts in the building as a fire lift to reach the 10th floor of the building to quickly move near the spot where the fire broke out. But they reached the 13th floor by mistake. That floor was burning and the seven inside the lift died," he said.

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A fire lift, unlike a normal passenger lift, is designed to operate so long as is practicable when there is a fire in parts of the building beyond the confines of its shaft, as it is used to transport firefighters and their equipment to a floor of their choice.

A forensic department official said that preliminary findings suggested that the blaze was caused by an electrical short-circuit on the 13th floor. Samples collected from the burnt floors were being sent for forensic examinations. The police registered a suo motu case in connection with the incident and the fire department constituted a committee to probe it.

The Eastern Railway has also ordered a high-level inquiry, headed by principal chief safety officer Jaideep Gupta, officials said.