Overview
- A fire at Hotel Bideshini in Tarapith on Monday killed nine people and left others critically injured, police said, with 22 guests rescued and several taken to Rampurhat hospital.
- A second blaze in a cramped five-storey building on Mirza Ghalib Street in central Kolkata on Wednesday killed at least nine people and injured six, and emergency teams evacuated roughly 60–80 residents.
- Officials and survivors reported blocked or locked emergency exits, no alarms or sprinklers, narrow staircases and small windowless rooms that trapped dense smoke and caused many deaths by asphyxia rather than external burns.
- Authorities have arrested the Tarapith hotel owner and his son, opened forensic probes into both blazes, registered cases in Kolkata where the building owner is reported to be absconding, and ordered a statewide fire-safety audit of hotels and guest houses.
- The consecutive tragedies spotlight risks faced by pilgrims and low-cost medical travellers who use budget lodging and are likely to prompt more closures, inspections and legal action as investigators seek causes, accountability and immediate safety fixes.