Kolkata fire: Doctors mull DNA test to identify some bodies

PTI, Mar 9, 2021, 11:39 AM IST

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Kolkata: The bodies of some of the nine killed in the fire at a multi-storeyed building in Kolkata”s Strand Road area was so badly burnt that they could not be identified, following which doctors were mulling DNA test to ascertain their identity, officials said on Tuesday.

The toll in the fire at the New Koilaghat Building rose to nine as two more bodies were found from an elevator in the early hours, they said.

Most of those killed are first responders — four firefighters, one assistant sub-inspector posted at the Hare Street police station, and an RPF personnel, officials said.

The four firefighters were identified as Girish Dey, Gourav Bej, Aniruddha Jana, and Biman Purkayat, a senior official of the state government said.

“The two bodies are yet to be identified. We have sent them for autopsy,” a senior official told PTI.

The earlier seven bodies were also found from a lift, officials said.

The fire broke out around 6.10 pm on the 13th floor of the building that houses the offices of the Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway.

The post-mortem was completed on the seven bodies at the SSKM Hospital after special permission was granted to speed up the process, an official said.

Of the seven bodies, a few were so badly burnt that family members could not identify them, following which doctors were mulling to conduct DNA tests, an official at the hospital said.

Meanwhile, police registered a suo motu case in connection with the incident and the fire department constituted a committee to probe the mishap, officials said.

The Eastern Railway has also ordered a high-level inquiry, headed by principal chief safety officer Jaideep Gupta, they said.

The railway personnel killed in the fire were identified as RPF constable Sanjay Sahni, Deputy Chief Commercial Manager Partha Sarathi Mondal, and Senior Technician Sudip Das, police said.

A team of the Kolkata Police’s forensic department reached the spot in the morning as part of the probe to ascertain the cause of the fire, a senior police officer said.