65-Year-Old Woman Killed in Howrah Apartment Fire, 12 Rescued

Howrah: A 65-year-old woman was killed after a fire broke out at an apartment in Andul in West Bengal’s Howrah district on Wednesday afternoon. At least 12 people living on other floors of the five-storey building were rescued by locals, police and fire brigade personnel.

The fire broke out at around 1 pm on the second floor of the building. According to police, the blaze is suspected to have originated in the kitchen of the apartment where the woman was alone at the time. The victim was identified as Gopa Mukherjee.

Local residents alerted the Domjur police station and fire brigade after noticing the blaze. Several local youths also attempted to contain the flames before emergency services arrived.

Five fire tenders were deployed to the spot and brought the blaze under control in approximately an hour. Firefighters later entered the apartment and recovered Mukherjee’s charred remains, officials said.

Residents of the building were evacuated as smoke and flames spread through the premises. One resident recalled being alerted by a domestic worker after she noticed a burning smell. The resident said there was severe suffocation inside the building and that they immediately rushed out after learning that a fire had broken out on the second floor.

The exact cause of the fire is yet to be established, with the initial assessment pointing towards the kitchen as the likely origin. Police and fire officials are expected to ascertain the circumstances that led to the blaze.

The incident comes amid heightened concerns over fire safety in West Bengal following multiple recent fire tragedies in the state. Last week, a hotel fire in central Kolkata killed at least nine people, while another blaze at a hotel in Tarapith in Birbhum district also claimed nine lives.

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