Kolkata hotel fire: 7 Bangladeshi nationals among 9 dead, India assures help
Synopsis
A hotel fire on Kolkata’s Mirza Ghalib Street has turned into a diplomatic flashpoint: seven of the nine victims are Bangladeshi nationals, most of whom had travelled to the city for medical treatment. India’s High Commissioner has pledged action, but the gap between his public assurance and the minister’s account of what was actually discussed in Dhaka tells its own story.
Key Takeaways
A major fire at a hotel on Mirza Ghalib Street, Kolkata killed nine people in the early hours of Wednesday, 20 August .
Seven of the nine victims are Bangladeshi nationals; one is from Giridih, Jharkhand and one from Siliguri, North Bengal .
Four victims— Debasish Dutta, Afsana Shirmiin, their toddler son Swarnasish , and Mohammad Akram Ali (74) —were from the same Kushtia family, in Kolkata for medical treatment.
India’s High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi assured Dhaka that New Delhi would “do whatever needs to be done.” Bangladesh’s Health Minister Sakhawat Hossain said the deaths were not formally discussed during the meeting, according to local media.
Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari blamed the previous TMC government for fire safety negligence.
At least nine people, including seven Bangladeshi nationals, were killed when a major fire broke out at a hotel on Mirza Ghalib Street in central Kolkata in the early hours of Wednesday, 20 August. India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, on Thursday assured New Delhi would take all necessary steps following the tragedy.
India's Assurance to Bangladesh
High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi made the commitment after meeting Bangladesh's Health and Family Welfare Minister Sakhawat Hossain at the Secretariat in Dhaka. “It’s very sad. We will certainly do whatever needs to be done,” Trivedi told reporters. However, Minister Hossain described the meeting as a courtesy call and said, according to local Bangladeshi media, that the issue of Bangladeshi deaths in India was not formally discussed during the session.
Identities of the Nine Victims
Kolkata Police on Thursday disclosed the identities of all nine victims and released the passport numbers of the seven Bangladeshi citizens. The nine deceased comprised six males, two females, and one child. The remaining two victims were one person from Giridih, Jharkhand, and one from Siliguri in Darjeeling district, North Bengal.
Four of the seven Bangladeshi victims belonged to the same family from Kushtia district in Bangladesh: Debasish Dutta (39); his wife Afsana Shirmiin (27); their toddler son Swarnasish Dutta; and Afsana’s father Mohammad Akram Ali (74). The family had travelled to Kolkata for Akram’s medical treatment. The fifth Bangladeshi victim was Babu Ahmed (37), a resident of Dhaka. The remaining two—Rebati Sarker and M Alimuzzaman, both from Kaliganj in Bangladesh—had also reportedly come to Kolkata for medical care. Their ages have not been disclosed by police.
Political Fallout in West Bengal
West Bengal opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday launched a sharp attack against the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, describing the fire as a consequence of “constant negligence and carelessness” by the outgoing administration. The incident has reignited long-standing concerns about fire safety compliance in Kolkata’s budget hotel district, where many Bangladeshi medical tourists stay during visits to city hospitals.
Bilateral Talks Continue
Separately on Thursday, High Commissioner Trivedi also called on Bangladesh’s Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury. The two sides discussed economic cooperation and bilateral development projects. The Indian High Commission in Dhaka posted on X that the meeting covered “matters of mutual interest such as economic cooperation and bilateral development projects between India and Bangladesh.”
As the investigation continues, diplomatic channels between New Delhi and Dhaka are expected to remain active, with the fate of the victims’ repatriation and any compensation measures closely watched by both governments.
Point of View
Yet fire safety enforcement in that corridor has been persistently inadequate. The diplomatic optics are awkward—India’s High Commissioner offered public assurances while Bangladesh’s Health Minister simultaneously said the issue was never formally raised. That contradiction deserves scrutiny. The political blame game in West Bengal, with Adhikari targeting the TMC, risks overshadowing the more urgent questions about inspection records, building compliance, and whether the hotel held valid fire safety clearances. Seven of nine dead being foreign nationals makes this a bilateral issue that cannot be resolved through courtesy calls alone.
NationPress
20 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened in the Kolkata hotel fire on Mirza Ghalib Street?
A major fire broke out at a hotel on Mirza Ghalib Street in central Kolkata in the early hours of Wednesday, 20 August, killing nine people. The victims included seven Bangladeshi nationals, one person from Jharkhand, and one from Siliguri in North Bengal.
Who were the Bangladeshi victims of the Kolkata hotel fire?
The seven Bangladeshi victims included a family of four from Kushtia district—Debasish Dutta (39), his wife Afsana Shirmiin (27), their toddler son Swarnasish Dutta, and Afsana’s father Mohammad Akram Ali (74)—who had come for medical treatment. The others were Babu Ahmed (37) of Dhaka, and Rebati Sarker and M Alimuzzaman, both from Kaliganj.
What did India’s High Commissioner say about the Bangladeshi deaths?
High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi said ‘It’s very sad. We will certainly do whatever needs to be done,’ after meeting Bangladesh’s Health Minister in Dhaka on Thursday. However, the Health Minister said the deaths were not formally discussed during the meeting, according to local media reports.
Who is being held politically responsible for the Kolkata hotel fire?
West Bengal opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari blamed the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government, citing what he called constant negligence and carelessness on fire safety. The fire has reignited debate over safety compliance in Kolkata’s budget hotel areas.
Why were so many Bangladeshi nationals staying at the Kolkata hotel?
Several of the Bangladeshi victims had travelled to Kolkata for medical treatment, a common practice given the city’s proximity to Bangladesh and its established hospitals. Budget hotels near medical facilities on streets like Mirza Ghalib Street are frequently used by Bangladeshi medical tourists.
