Stephen Court fire toll rises to 34

The toll in the Stephen Court fire here on Sunday rose to 34 as one more body was found under the rubbles in the fifth floor of the fire-raged building.

Fire brigade sources said the decomposed body was recovered from under the debris in the fifth floor and it has been sent to the SSKM Hospital for postmortem.

“The charred body is beyond recognition and we cannot say even whether it is male or female,” the sources said.

Meanwhile, a family from Jharkhand has lodged a complaint with the police, saying a member of it has been missing from Tuesday, the day the fire broke out.

The family said in the complaint lodged on Saturday night that Vineet came to the city to appear in an examination at Stephen Court on that day and did not return.

Following this complaint, the number of missing persons relating to the fire rose to three.

“There is every possibility that some bodies are still there under the debris. But the condition of the bodies is very very bad. The bodies cannot be pulled out unless the entire debris is cleared,” said a senior police officer.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation workers working round the clock have to be very careful in clearing the debris and that was why it was taking so much time, a KMC official said.

“Nearly 75 per cent of the work of removing the rubble is finished and the rest will be done tonight. So there is a possibility that some bodies might be recovered tonight,” the KMC official said.

To clear the confusion regarding identification of bodies, a notice was put up at the State-run SSKM Hospital yesterday.

According to the notice, 29 bodies had been found of which 16 had been disposed off. Of the 13 remaining, DNA tests have been conducted on four and the same would be done on the remaining nine tomorrow.

Hospital superintendent D. Bhattacharya told PTI that DNA tests generally took time.

Six more bodies recovered at Stephen Court

Six more bodies were recovered at Stephen Court here on Friday, three days after a devastating fire broke out in the multi-storeyed building, pushing the death toll to 30.

But with six persons still untraced, it is feared that several bodies are buried beneath the rubble.

For the relatives of those reported missing, the nightmare continued, as the condition of the charred bodies raised difficulties in identification. While none claimed the bodies recovered on Thursday, a DNA examination was being conducted on samples collected from four victims to resolve disputes on their identity.

The families of the victims came to the morgue of the SSKM Hospital all through the day. For most of them, the experience was relived every time they were called for the identification. “Why was he calling me? Why didn't he do something to escape instead,” lamented the sisters of Bidyut Archarya, who is missing.

The building remained sealed for the third day, but some of the residents were allowed inside the portions of the structure considered safe for a short while to collect essentials from their homes.

Even as measures for improving fire safety standards at high-rise buildings were announced, another fire broke out at a four-storeyed house on Rabindra Sarani on Friday evening. Five fire tenders brought the blaze under control.

A committee of senior officials of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the Police, the fire brigade and the Power Department had been set up. It will inspect buildings that have been identified as vulnerable, Commissioner of Police Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti said.

A 200 personnel-strong civil defence emergency response force was being raised to conduct rescue operations, Minister of State for Civil Defence Srikumar Mukherjee said. It would become operational within two months.

Negligence led to loss of lives

A day after one of the worst fire accidents in the city, West Bengal officials discussed measures needed to equip the State to tackle such disasters better, while also trying to identify the owners of the heritage building on Park Street whose negligence in upkeep led to the loss of 24 lives.

Briefing the press after the hour-long meeting at the Secretariat on Wedensday, Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said 10 people were still missing.

“Our immediate task is to clear the debris and search for the missing people,” he said, adding it would take at least three days to clear the rubble.

The government announced a compensation of Rs. 2 lakh to the next of kin each of the dead.

The seven-storey Stephen Court, where fire broke out on the fifth floor, had in all 280 flats and 400 offices.

To a question, Mr. Sen said, “It is an old building and if any portion is found to be in a dangerous condition, it would have to be demolished.”

Amid reports that firemen were hard put to battling Tuesday's blaze for want of proper equipment. Mr. Sen said, “It will have to be seen whether they need more helmets and fireproof jackets. The Chief Minister and the Fire Minister will finalise this issue.”

On the issue of the late arrival of a 70-metre ladder, causing anguish, Mr. Sen said it would have to be considered whether ladders could be kept at a central location within the precincts of the city. On Tuesday, ladders had to be brought from two destinations at least 10 km from the scene of accident.

Fire Minister Pratim Chatterjee had said the ladders needed a lot of storage space and took some 25 minutes to arrive on the scene.

Mr. Sen said fire engines arrived within 15 minutes of the police receiving the information. The fire headquarters are only half a kilometre away from the site of fire.

In the fire-hit building, there were unapproved structures which were subsequently regularised in 1984. The Forensic Department was examining the cause of the accident, Mr. Sen said.
Measures at Secretariat

Asked whether any measure was taken at the Secretariat, which is also a heritage building over 100 years old, Mr. Sen said some steps had been taken in recent times. These included removal of broken furniture, lying cluttered around the corridors of the three-storey building which also has an annexe. Fire hydrants were repaired.

Fire breaks out at Stephen House building in Kolkata

Fire breaks out at Stephen House building in Kolkata. 15 fire tenders rushed to the spot. People feared trapped in the building. Building situated next to Park Hotel in Kolkata.

 

IAF MiG 21 crashes in West Bengal

An Indian Air Force MiG-21 combat jet crashed soon after take-off from Bagdora in West Bengal on Friday but the pilot ejected to safety, an IAF spokesman said.

“The aircraft crashed around 3 p.m. soon after take-off and the pilot, Squadron Leader Rahul Tiwari, ejected safely,” the spokesman added.

“The pilot was picked up by an SAR (search and rescue) helicopter and has been taken to hospital,” the spokesman said.

This is the second crash of an IAF fighter in three days. A MiG-27 had crashed near the Hashimara air base, also in West Bengal, on Tuesday.