KOLKATA: The death toll in the fire that broke out in two warehouses in Anandapur in the southern outskirts of Kolkata has reached 16, said the police on Wednesday.
At the same time, several people are still missing, and a search is on to trace them.
Meanwhile, police have arrested Gangadhar Das, the owner of the burnt-down decorator's warehouse. He was arrested on charges of death due to negligence.
The decorator's warehouse was adjacent to a Momo company's warehouse, which was also destroyed in the fire. Similar charges have been filed against the owners of the Momo company, but no one from that company has been arrested yet.
The fire broke out in the two warehouses around 3 a.m. on Monday. The fire continued to rage until Tuesday afternoon. Body parts were scattered throughout the burnt-out warehouses. The exact number of people present at the scene at the time of the incident is still uncertain. The charred remains have made identification of the bodies very difficult. According to the police, DNA testing will be conducted to confirm the identities after getting a court order.