At least 15 killed in fire at Indian hotel: Police
At least 15 killed in fire at Indian hotel: Police
KOLKATA - A fierce fire ripped through a hotel in the Indian city of Kolkata killing at least 15 people, police said on April 30 , with some clambering out of windows and onto the rooftop to escape.
'Several people were rescued from rooms and roof of the hotel', Kolkata police chief Manoj Verma told reporters, saying the fire which broke out on April 29 evening was now under control.
He confirmed 'at least 15 casualties'.
Building fires are common in India due to a lack of firefighting equipment and a routine disregard for safety regulations.
The Press Trust of India news agency, which filmed images of soaring flames from the building, reported that 'several people were seen trying to escape through the windows and narrow ledges of the building'.
Kolkata's The Telegraph newspaper reported that at least one person died when he 'jumped off the terrace trying to escape' the fire.
Commissioner Verma said the fire had been tackled and that 'cooling operations are underway'. AFP
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Intense Russian drone attack on Kharkiv kills 2, injures 54, Ukraine says
A firefighter works at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in this handout released on June 11, 2025. STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE IN THE KHARKIV REGION/Handout via REUTERS A firefighter works at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in this handout released on June 11, 2025. STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE IN THE KHARKIV REGION/Handout via REUTERS Firefighters work at a site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in this handout released on June 11, 2025. STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE IN THE KHARKIV REGION/Handout via REUTERS Flames rise from a building following a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in this handout released on June 11, 2025. STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE IN THE KHARKIV REGION/Handout via REUTERS KHARKIV - A nine-minute-long Russian drone attack on Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv in the middle of the night killed at least two people and injured 54, including five children, regional officials said on Wednesday. The intense strikes with 17 drones sparked fires in 15 units of a five-storey apartment building and caused other damage in the city close to the Russian border, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. "There are direct hits on multi-storey buildings, private homes, playgrounds, enterprises and public transport," Terekhov said on the Telegram messaging app. "Apartments are burning, roofs are destroyed, cars are burnt, windows are broken." A Reuters witness saw emergency rescuers helping to carry people out of damaged buildings, administering care and firefighters battling blazes in the dark. Nine of the injured, including a 2-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, have been hospitalised, Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of the broader Kharkiv region, said on Telegram. He added that the strikes hit also a city trolley bus depot and several residential buildings. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Kharkiv, in Ukraine's northeast, withstood Russian full-scale advance in the early days of the war and has since been a frequent target of drone, missile, and guided aerial bomb assaults. The attack followed Russia's two biggest assaults of the war on Ukraine this week, a part of intensified bombardments that Moscow said were retaliatory measures for Kyiv's recent attacks in Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched on its smaller neighbour in February 2022. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. "We are holding on. We are helping each other. And we will definitely survive," Terekhov said. "Kharkiv is Ukraine. And it cannot be broken." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Intense Russian drone attack on Kharkiv kills 2, injures 38, Ukraine says
KHARKIV - A nine-minute-long Russian drone attack on Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv killed at least two people and injured 38, including five children, regional officials said on Wednesday. The intense strikes with 17 drones sparked fires in 15 units of a five-storey apartment building and caused other damage in the city close to the Russian border, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. "There are direct hits on multi-storey buildings, private homes, playgrounds, enterprises and public transport," Terekhov said on the Telegram messaging app. "Apartments are burning, roofs are destroyed, cars are burnt, windows are broken." A Reuters witness saw emergency rescuers helping to carry people out of damaged buildings, administering care and firefighters battling blazes in the dark. Nine of the injured, including a 2-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, have been hospitalised, Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of the broader Kharkiv region, said on Telegram. He added that the strikes hit also a city trolley bus depot and several residential buildings. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Kharkiv, in Ukraine's northeast, withstood Russian full-scale advance in the early days of the war and has since been a frequent target of air assaults. The attack followed Russia's two biggest assaults of the war on Ukraine this week, a part of intensified bombardments that Moscow said were retaliatory measures for Kyiv's recent attacks in Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched on its smaller neighbour in February 2022. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. "We are holding on. We are helping each other. And we will definitely survive," Terekhov said. "Kharkiv is Ukraine. And it cannot be broken." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Northern Ireland town hit by second night of unrest
Armed police in riot gear stand guard during a second night of riots, in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, on June 10. PHOTO: REUTERS Northern Ireland town hit by second night of unrest BALLYMENA, Northern Ireland - Violence flared for a second night on June 10 in a Northern Irish town after 'racially motivated' attacks sparked by the arrest of two teenagers accused of attempting to rape a young girl. Hundreds of protesters, many of them masked, took to the streets of Ballymena, throwing petrol bombs, bottles and masonry as police responded with water cannon, an AFP journalist said. There was a heavy police presence in one area of the town, some 48km north-west of Belfast, as the protesters set fire to a car and barricades. Police also fired plastic baton rounds to disperse the crowds, an AFP journalist saw. Later as night fell, crowds began to disperse in Ballymena although smaller groups still milled around the town centre. And local media reported that protesters were also blocking roads in Belfast. The unrest first erupted on the night of June 9 after a vigil in a neighbourhood where an alleged serious sexual assault happened on June 7. 'This violence was clearly racially motivated and targeted at our minority ethnic community and police,' Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said on June 10. He told a press conference: 'It was racist thuggery, pure and simply, and any attempt to justify it or explain it as something else is misplaced.' Tensions in the town, which has a large migrant population, remained high throughout the day on June 10, as residents described the scenes as 'terrifying' and told AFP those involved were targeting 'foreigners'. Two teenage boys, charged by police with the attempted rape of a teenage girl, had appeared in court June 9, where they asked for a Romanian interpreter, local media reports said. The trouble began when masked people 'broke away from the vigil and began to build barricades, stockpiling missiles and attacking properties', police said. Houses and businesses were attacked, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said, adding it was investigating 'hate attacks'. Security forces also came under 'sustained attack' with petrol bombs, fireworks and bricks thrown by rioters, injuring 15 officers including some who required hospital treatment, according to the force. One 29-year-old man was arrested and charged with riotous behaviour, disorderly behaviour, attempted criminal damage and resisting police. Four houses were damaged by fire, and windows and doors of homes and businesses smashed. Ms Cornelia Albu, 52, a Romanian migrant and mother-of-two who lives opposite a house targeted in the attacks, said her family had been 'very scared'. 'Last night it was crazy because too many people came here and tried to put the house on fire,' Ms Albu, who works in a factory, told AFP. She said she would now have to move, but was worried she would not find another place to live because she was Romanian. 'Scared as hell' A 22-year-old woman who lives next door to a burnt-out house in the same Clonavon neighbourhood said the night had been 'terrifying'. 'People were going after foreigners, whoever they were, or how innocent they were,' the woman, who did not want to share her name for security reasons, told AFP. 'But there were local people indoors down the street scared as hell.' Northern Ireland saw racism-fuelled disorder in August after similar riots in English towns and cities triggered by the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport, north-west England. According to Mr Mark, 24, who did not share his last name, the alleged rape on the weekend was 'just a spark'. 'The foreigners around here don't show respect to the locals, they come here, don't integrate,' said Mr Mark. Another man was halfway up a ladder, hanging a Union Jack flag in front of his house as a 'precaution – so people know it's not a foreigner living here'. 'Ballymena has a large migrant population, a lot of people actually work in the town and provide excellent work,' Mayor Jackson Minford told AFP. 'Last night unfortunately has probably scared a lot of people. We are actively working to identify those responsible and bring them to justice,' said Mr Henderson. A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the 'disorder' in Ballymena was 'very concerning'. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
