First Pics: Fire in the heart of Kolkata

A major fire broke out in the multi-storied heritage building, Stephen's Court, in Kolkata's busy Park Street area on Tuesday that killed 24 people and left about 18 injured, eight of whom are critical.

The firemen put up ladders to rescue people who had scrambled out from windows on ledges and recovered 17 bodies overnight as they went from door to door on the 5th, 6th and 7th floor of the building. Only 12 of these bodies have been identified so far.

Most of the people were injured when they tried to jump to safety. (AP Photo)

The fire started from the lift on fifth and sixth floors of the building.

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Six people died in the incident, the Kolkata police commissioner confirmed. (AP Photo)

About 18 were injured in the raging fire.

Image Courtesy: Gavin Rebeiro.

The fire, that started in the lift soon spread upwards and sideways and forced people out of windows onto narrow parapets and ledges as they waited to be rescued.(AP Photo)

Panicky people trapped in the building tried to escape by climbing down rickety ladders or even a rope. (AFP Image)

Most of the people were injured when they tried to jump to safety. Eight of the injured were admitted to the hospital.

Image Courtsey: Kolkata TV.

For over four hours, over 100 firemen battled the Park Street inferno with rescue operations hampered by lack of equipment, massive crowds and even traffic.

Image Courtesy: Ankit Bothra

Seen here, rescue workers help trapped people escape from the building. (AP Photo)

The first four fire engines arrived at the spot soon after the fire started from the nearby Free School Street fire station. But they could do little as they did not have the equipment needed to tackle the fire.

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Hydraulic ladders were needed to transport fire personnel to the higher floors where the fire raged, but these took more than an hour to get to the site as the fire engines equipped with the ladders were stored in not-so-close Behala. (AP Photo)

The fire-fighters went inside the building and rescued the trapped persons one by one. Image Courtesy: Ankit Bothra

Window grills limited access to those who were trapped in the building.

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Ladders were used to reach the people trapped inside the building. Image Courtesy: Ankit Bothra

West Bengal Minister for Fire & Emergency Services, Pratim Chatterjee pointed out that due to heavy Kolkata traffic, there was a delay in the fire tenders reaching the spot.

Ambulances were also rushed to the spot.

Image Courtsey: Kolkata TV.

The area was cordoned off to facilitate smooth fire fighting operation.

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The entire Park Street was closed to traffic.

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Initial findings suggested an electrical fire but more investigations will have to be carried out to ascertain what happened.(NDTV Photo)

Stephen Court is a 150-year-old building on Park Street, home to two of the city's best known restaurants - the iconic Flury's and Peter Cat.

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There have been fires in Kolkata before, this being the third major one in less than two years, but there have not been any fatalities before this.

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As the 150-year-old building built by Kolkata's Armenian community went up in flames, it left behind many questions. Were fire safety norms callously ignored? Could precious lives have been saved?

Image Courtesy: Ankit Bothra