Kolkata fire toll 33, more bodies may be buried

KOLKATA - Three more charred bodies were recovered from the rubble of Stephen Court building here Saturday taking the toll in Tuesday’s inferno to 33, amid fears that more corpses may be lying hidden in the debris.

“Three more bodies have been recovered today (Saturday),” Joint Commissioner of Police Jawed Shamim told IANS.

Burnt beyond recognition, the bodies have been sent to the S.S.K.M Hospital for post mortem.

Meanwhile, the father of a victim, Dinen Kumar, filed a missing person’s complaint at the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station saying his son worked in an office housed in the ill-fated edifice.

Workers clearing the debris on the fifth and sixth floors of the building reported putrid smell, with flies hovering over some areas, raising fresh apprehensions that more bodies may be buried in the ruins.

The fire broke out Tuesday and swept through two floors of the residence-cum-office block on the bustling Park Street, trapping scores of people.

Six people died Tuesday after jumping from the upper floors in a desperate bid to save themselves. Eighteen charred bodies were found by Wednesday morning from the sixth floor. Another half a dozen bodies were found Friday.

About a dozen people are still untraced.

Built by Armenian Stephen Arathoon in 1910, Stephen Court also housed the iconic Flury tea room, the famous eatery Peter Cat, besides Cafe Coffee Day and One Step Up restaurants.