Nine persons were killed after a massive fire engulfed abuilding in city Strand Road on Monday evening.
In a tweet, the President Ram Nath Kovind said, "Painedbeyond words by the extremely tragic fire accident at a building in Kolkata. Mydeep sympathy and condolences for the bereaved families. I wish for the speedyrecovery of the injured."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took to Twitter and said,"Saddened by the loss of lives due to the fire tragedy in Kolkata. In thishour of sadness, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injuredrecover at the earliest."
Among the dead are four firemen, a police officer, aRailways officer, and a security person. Five of the nine bodies were found inan elevator on the 12th floor of the building in central Kolkata's Strand Roadwhere the fire broke out on Monday evening. The victims appeared to havesuffocated and burnt to death inside the lift.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal also expressed grief over theincident and ordered a high-level probe to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Taking to Twitter, he said, "Sincere condolences to thefamilies of the 9 brave deceased including the 4 firefighters, 2 Railwayspersonnel and an Assistant Sub Inspector of Police (ASI) who have been fightingthe fire at the Eastern Railways Strand road office in Kolkata."