Three-star hotel sealed, it lacked fire safety equipment

The five-storey hotel has 72 superior deluxe rooms. It is located opposite the British Deputy High Commission and Metro Plaza shopping centre and is surrounded by the Tata Centre, a 60-storey residential skyscraper ‘The 42’ (under construction) and the office of Guardian Plasticote Limited.

According to an employee, around 32 rooms were occupied when the fire broke out. “The hotel was sort-staffed when the fire broke out, as it was around 3 am. The staff tried their best to save as many guests as possible but as the smoke started filling up, they ran for their lives. All guests, barring a few, were rescued and shifted to nearby hotels such as Kenilworth Hotel on Little Russel Street,” said Supriyo Adhikary, an accountant at the hotel. The hotel has a strength of about 180, he added.

The two who died in the fire — Anup Agarwal and Chamar Kishan — were declared brought dead on arrival at SSKM Hospital.

While Anup was a trader from Surat, Chamar used to work with Tata Steel. Two other Tata Steel employees, Anand Mohanti (39) and Ajit Horo (35), have been shifted to Woodlands Hospital. “Tata Steel has its own five-star hotel (Taj Bengal) and a guesthouse in Tata Centre. As there was a meeting going on and a lot of employees had come from other states, the company booked some rooms at this hotel,” said 60-year old Ganesh Kayal, who works at the cleaning department of Tata Centre.

Golden Park Hotel is popular among companies, as a lot of corporate events take place in its banquet halls. The hotel also houses a pub (London Pub) and lesser-known night club.

Later, state Fire Minister and Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, along with KMC officials visited the spot. “It is a G plus four building with a basement and the fire had reached the top floor. The fire equipment was not adequate and could not be put to proper use,” he told mediapersons.