Fire in a building housing several hotels in eastern India kills 9 and injures 6

Members of the forensic team enter after first responders doused an early morning fire at a building that housed multiple hotels and guest houses in Kolkata, India, Aug 19, 2026. (Photo: AP/Bikas Das) 19 Aug 2026 04:35PM NEW DELHI: A fire broke out in a five-storey building that houses several hotels in Kolkata in the early hours of Wednesday (Aug 19), killing at least nine people and injuring six others in the capital of India’s West Bengal state, police said.The blaze erupted around 1.45am in the building close to the West Bengal Fire Department headquarters in central Kolkata, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, describing the building as “dingy”.Those killed included two women and a four-year-old child, police said. At least 80 people have been rescued from the building, acc