Fire races through old Calcutta building, killing 6 and injuring 20
By APTuesday, March 23, 2010
Fire in old Calcutta building kills 6, injures 20
CALCUTTA, India — A fire raced through the upper floors of an old, six-story building in Calcutta on Tuesday, killing six people, including two who jumped to their deaths as onlookers began to crowd the area.
Thousands of people gathered in a busy section of the eastern Indian city to watch firefighters use ladders to rescue dozens of people trapped inside the office-and-apartment building while dense smoke and fire billowed from the fourth floor upward.
About 20 people were injured.
Police were investigating the cause of the fire, which was believed to have started in an elevator, police officer Javed Shamim said. Nearly 100 firefighters spent several hours to control the blaze.
Two people jumped to their deaths while four succumbed to burn injuries in a hospital, State Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said. Five of the 20 people hospitalized were in critical condition, Sen told The Associated Press.
The nearly 100-year-old building lies on Calcutta’s busy Park Street, which is lined with offices, apartments and restaurants.
