Eight dead, many missing in Anandapur godown fire in Kolkata

At least eight persons died and many are still missing as a massive fire broke out at a warehouse in the Nazirabad area in the southern outskirts of Kolkata’s Anandapur on Monday 3AM.

After visiting the spot Tuesday morning, State Fire Minister Sujit Bose said, “We will conduct an enquiry into this incident. The forensic team has also arrived and they are doing their job. We conduct fire audits from time to time. We will check whether a fire audit was conducted here. However, there were no fire-fighting devices here.”

The family members are waiting, trying to get information, and they have informed the state administration about their missing family members. “We are also looking into it,” Bose said.


Around 15 fire engines have worked round the clock to douse the fire, which broke out at the dry food warehouse at around 3 a.m. on Monday.

“All enquiries will be conducted as per the rules. We conduct a fire audit,” Director General-Fire Services said.

BJP MLA Ashok Dinda had visited the spot yesterday. Some workers of his constituency worked in the godown.

The warehouse in Nazirabad in Anandapur stored dry, packaged food items and bottles of soft drinks. According to the fire department sources, the fire spread to two adjacent warehouses. Almost everything has been destroyed. Since the warehouse was located inside a narrow alley, firefighters faced difficulties while extinguishing the flames, people in the know said.

The exact cause of the fire is yet to be known. The fire brigade had received information about the blaze at around 3 am. However, challenges were faced as the warehouse was situated deep inside a narrow lane.

Nazirabad falls under Sonarpur Assembly Constituency where the godown was located.