Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The death toll in the hotel fire at Tarapith in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on August 17 rose to seven, confirmed the police, adding that the owner of the building has been arrested.
Birbhum District Police Superintendent Vidit Raj Bundesh confirmed that the toll has risen and that Kalyan Paul, the owner of the hotel named ‘Bideshini’, has been arrested.
The police are investigating whether the hotel’s firefighting system was in proper condition and whether all the fire safety-related rules were followed.
Many residents of the hotel have complained that an exit door at the back side of the hotel was closed, and hence they were unable to get out, which is in contradiction to what Paul had claimed earlier this morning.
Paul claimed that because of extreme panic, many of the residents could not trace the exit door at the back side of the hotel and hence they tried to rush out through the reception, and that is when many got burnt.
The investigating officer is also investigating these claims by the residents and counterclaims by Paul.
The fire broke out at the hotel adjacent to Tarapith Police Station at around 5 a.m.. The initial estimate of the fire department is that the fire was caused by a short circuit. Smoke rose to the fifth floor. Fortunately, the fire was restricted to the first floor and partially to the second floor, which limited the number of casualties.
