Hotel blaze brings guests out on Lansdowne Road in dead of night
Times of India | 3 June 2025
1234 Kolkata: A fire on the fourth floor of Mangalam hotel on Sarat Bose Road early on Monday forced all 48 guests to evacuate in the dead of night. The blaze raked up memories of the hotel fire at the Mechhua fruit district where 14 persons had died on April 29. No guest or hotel staff was injured in the Lansdowne hotel fire that was first spotted at 1.10 am on Monday. A fire fighter received treatment after inhaling toxic smoke. Initial investigations suggested an AC short-circuit may have caused the fire. A forensic team inspected the hotel on Monday.All 28 rooms of the five-storey hotel were occupied when the fire broke out. Among the guests were 32 people from a wedding party who were staying in 23 rooms. Four fire engines responded to the call. Firefighters wearing gas masks entered the premises and broke windows to release smoke. The blaze was brought under control around 5 am. Md Jalaluddin (39), a firefighter, suffered from suffocation and received treatment at SSKM hospital.Bipul Thar, a guest from Pune who had checked in on May 31 in a room on the fourth floor, first detected smoke emerging from room 403 on the same floor. "I tried to connect the hotel reception via intercom but none responded. As I started facing breathing issues, I decided to go down the stairs." Thar alerted several other guests who were fast asleep at the time.Patrons from the basement café assisted in the evacuation and removed gas cylinders from kitchens. "There was panic and we rushed inside with buckets of water to douse the flames. There were many children and women," said Md Ansari, a Kidderpore resident who took part in the rescue. Witnesses reported dud fire safety equipment in the hotel.The wedding ceremony at the neighbouring Shree Lakshmi Narayan Mandir for the Shah family proceeded as planned on Monday afternoon. "We had a sleepless night. By the grace of God, all guests are safe," said Anish Shah, the bride's father. Among the guests were 14 families from Gujarat and Maharashtra."We returned around 4 am to collect our belongings that we had left behind while hurriedly exiting the hotel," said Ketan Shah, Anish's younger brother. Some guests, like Mumbai resident Anuj Agarwal, were unable to retrieve their possessions from the sealed hotel. "All important documents and clothes are in the hotel room. I need access to the room to collect them," said Agarwal, who has relocated to another hotel 2 km away.(With inputs from Dwaipayan Ghosh)