Kolkata: At least six people were killed and several others critically injured in a devastating fire at a five-storey hotel in Tarapith in Birbhum district of West Bengal on Monday.  

The injured persons are currently under treatment at the nearby Rampurhat Government Medical College and Hospital. The doctors attending them said the death toll may increase as the condition of some people admitted to the hospital was extremely critical.

The fire broke out at around 5 a.m. at 'Hotel Bideshini', which is located beside a pond and very near the Tarapith Police Station.

Initial investigation suggests that the fire broke out due to a short circuit, which quickly spread to various rooms. Most of the hotel residents were sleeping at the time. There were also many children in the hotel.

Eyewitnesses said the entire area was covered by smoke in minutes. Several people were trapped inside the hotel, and panic broke out among guests as well as the local people.

Since the hotel is located near the police station, the cops did not take much time to reach the spot. Several fire tenders rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control. But by then, a large part of the ground floor of the hotel was burnt. Some hotel residents were charred in the fire, and some fell ill due to the smoke. The injured were rescued and sent to the hospital.

The owner of the hotel, Kalyan Paul, told media persons that fortunately the night watchman in the hotel became alert immediately after the fire broke out and activated the fire extinguishers.

“They even disconnected the power supply cable. But by that time, even the fibre-optic items in the hotel's furnishings had caught fire. The firefighters came and extinguished the fire. Although the fire was mainly restricted to the ground floor, the smoke rose to the fifth floor. The residents started coming out of their rooms in panic. There was an exit door at the backside of the hotel. But many could not trace it in panic. They started leaving through the reception, and that is when many got burnt,” Paul said.