Anandapur, January 28, 2026 β The scale of the tragedy at the Naziabad industrial cluster in South Kolkata has reached grim new heights. Official sources confirmed today that the death toll from the massive fire at two adjoining warehouses has risen to 19, following the recovery of more charred remains during the ongoing cooling-off and search operations.
While the death toll was reported as 11 earlier this morning, rescue teams from the Fire and Emergency Services, alongside forensic experts, discovered eight more bodies as they gained access to the deeper, heavily damaged sections of the structures.
The fire broke out at approximately 3:00 AM on Monday, January 26, at a complex housing a decoratorβs go down and a facility leased by a popular fast-food manufacturing chain. Witnesses described a sudden inferno fueled by highly inflammable materials, including plastic, wood, and chemicals, which trapped dozens of workers who were sleeping on the premises.
Reports indicate that at the time of the fire, roughly 34 workers were inside the decoratorβs unit and at least three were present in the food manufacturing facility. Many victims reportedly made frantic final phone calls to their families, stating they were trapped by thick smoke and collapsing structures.
The tragedy has sparked a fierce political and legal row in West Bengal. Preliminary investigations by the Fire Department have revealed a series of catastrophic safety failures. Director General of Fire Services, Ranveer Kumar, confirmed that neither warehouse had obtained a formal fire safety clearance certificate.
The facility lacked proper emergency exits, and no functional firefighting equipment was found on site.
Opposition leaders have alleged that the warehouses were built on illegally filled wetlands in the East Kolkata region, circumventing municipal rules.
Narendrapur Police have arrested Gangadhar Das, the owner of the decorator warehouse, on charges of causing death by negligence. Das was apprehended from the Garia area on Tuesday night and is being produced in court today.
Due to the extreme intensity of the blaze, many of the recovered remains are charred beyond recognition. The state administration has announced that DNA profiling will be the only way to confirm identities.
Police will seek court permission today to collect samples from grieving families to match with the recovered remains.
The West Bengal government has announced a compensation of βΉ10 lakh for the families of each deceased victim.
Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim and Fire Minister Sujit Bose visited the site today, assuring families that the search would continue until all 20 officially reported missing persons are accounted for.
This incident marks one of the deadliest industrial fires in the state since the 2011 AMRI Hospital tragedy. It has reignited the debate over the presence of “living quarters” inside warehouses and the lack of regular fire audits in congested peripheral areas of Kolkata like Anandapur and Narendrapur.
As rescue teams continue to sift through the ash and rubble, local residents have expressed growing anger over the lack of administrative checks that allowed such a high-risk facility to operate in a narrow, residential-adjacent lane.
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