PTI file photo
KOLKATA: At least seven people were killed and 21 others reported missing after a massive fire tore through a warehouse complex in eastern Kolkata early Monday, trapping workers who had been sleeping inside units packed with flammable materials. The complex housed a decorators’ unit and a factory supplying a popular momo chain.Police initially confirmed three deaths, but fire department sources later said seven badly burnt bodies had been retrieved. Identification was not immediately possible. Officials said numbers could change as search continued through smouldering debris.The blaze broke out around 2.30 am at a warehouse in Nazirabad of Anandapur – a densely populated neighbourhood off the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, a major arterial road linking south and east Kolkata.According to missing-person complaints, 25 people had stayed overnight inside the decorators’ unit, while three others were in the momo factory. Most of those missing are migrant workers from East and West Midnapore districts.Fire officials said the decorators’ unit stored large quantities of thermocol and other highly combustible materials. Large stocks of soft drinks and packaged food kept in the warehouse may have further fuelled the flames, allowing the fire to spread rapidly across the structure. Ten fire engines were rushed to the spot, followed by 12 more in phases. Firefighters battled the blaze for hours, but pockets of fire were still burning well into the morning, hampering rescue. A bulldozer was brought in to clear debris. A nearby workers’ mess and a residential house were evacuated as a precaution.Relatives of the missing gathered outside the blackened shell of the building, searching for signs of loved ones. Sonarpur resident Pankaj Haldar managed a frantic call to his family after the fire began, but the line went dead soon after, a relative said.”My father has been working here for the past seven years. There is still no news of him. We have found his cycle,” said Nayan Haldar, standing beside a nearly burnt bicycle believed to belong to his father Basudeb Haldar, store-in-charge of the momo unit. Cops said efforts were under way to trace the warehouse owners and a probe was underway.
