In West Bengal, nine people have been killed and six others injured in a fire at a hotel on Free School Street in New Market area in Kolkata early this morning. Police sources informed that the fire broke out at around 2 a.m. and thick smoke began billowing from the third floor of the five-storey building, located right next to the fire brigade headquarters.

Preliminary investigation revealed the hotel reportedly had no fire safety or firefighting system. Questions are being raised over how a hotel was allowed to operate in a five-storey building in the heart of central Kolkata, apparently evading police surveillance.