Toll Reaches 45 In Kolkata Warehouse Fire As 18 Bodies Handed Over To Families
Kolkata: The bodies of 18 victims of the Anandapur warehouse fire on the southern outskirts of Kolkata have been identified through DNA mapping and handed over to their families on Saturday. With this, the official death toll in the tragedy has risen to 45, while nine persons are still reported missing.
Police sources said the identification was confirmed after matching DNA samples of the remains with those provided by the victims’ family members. Among the 18 deceased, 16 were from East Midnapore district, one from West Midnapore district, and one from Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district.
The bodies were handed over to their families at the Katapukur morgue in south Kolkata. Family members had been asked to report to Narendrapur police station, following which they were escorted to the morgue to complete the formalities and receive the mortal remains.
Police officials said those who arrived to collect the remains were first required to report to Narendrapur police station, after which they proceeded to the Katapukur morgue for identification and handover procedures. The Baruipur police district has also informed the respective district administrations about the development.
The district administrations and local police of East Midnapore, West Midnapore, and South 24 Parganas have contacted the families concerned and assured them of necessary assistance and support.
The deceased have been identified as Kartik Jana, Nantu Khada, Subrata Khada, Prosenjit Ghara, Sandip Kumar Maiti, Krishnandu Dhara, Gurupada Sau, Basudeb Haldar, Basudeb Bera, Buddhadev Jana, Biswajit Sau, Khudiram Dinda, Shashank Jana, Bimal Maiti, Jaydev Majhi, Ramakrishna Mandal, Sujit Singh, and Tapankumar Dolui.
The devastating fire had broken out on the night of January 26 at a warehouse belonging to Pushpanjali Decorators and subsequently spread to an adjacent facility linked to Wow Momo. A total of 27 people were initially confirmed dead in the incident, while several others were reported missing.
Families of the missing persons had filed complaints at Narendrapur police station. Due to the severe charring of the bodies, identification was not immediately possible, necessitating DNA testing. Blood samples of relatives were collected and matched with recovered remains to establish identities.
Officials said DNA matching for nine persons is still pending, and the identification process is expected to be completed after the remaining forensic reports are received. Death certificates will subsequently be issued to the families through the concerned panchayat authorities.
Meanwhile, Gangadhar Das, owner of the decorators’ warehouse, and Raja Chakraborty and Manoranjan Sit, managers of the Wow Momo-linked facility, have been arrested in connection with the incident. They are currently lodged in Baruipur correctional facility as the investigation continues.
(IANS)
