"fire-accident"

At least nine people were killed in an inferno in a multi-storeyed building in Kolkata, which houses zonal offices of Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway on Monday.

He said all possible assistance has been provided by the Railways to the state government during this “unfortunate” fire accident.

Out of the seven deceased, four were firefighters, one assistant sub-inspector posted at the Hare Street police station and one RPF personnel, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Basu said

At least 28 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the fire.

Police suspect a short circuit led to the fire, which broke out when there were people inside the building. The staff who noticed fire and smoke in the office located on the third floor of the multi-storied building immediately alerted the police

The injured were immediately shifted to the Osmania General Hospital for treatment. It is suspected that fire broke out due to leakage from the small LPG cylinder while cooking.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani expressed grief over the incident and ordered a probe into it.

It is learnt that the fire was triggered by a spark emerged from a tractor when the driver was trying to hot-wire the vehicle using a power cable

However, there were no casualties and the fire was brought under control in quick time