Kolkata, Feb 21 (NationPress) The remains of 18 individuals who tragically lost their lives in the Anandapur warehouse fire on the southern outskirts of Kolkata have been officially identified through DNA testing and returned to their families on Saturday. This grim development has raised the confirmed death toll in the incident to 45, with nine individuals still unaccounted for.

According to police reports, the identification was achieved by matching DNA samples from the remains with those submitted by the victims' relatives. Of the 18 identified victims, 16 hailed from the East Midnapore district, one from West Midnapore, and one from Baruipur located in South 24 Parganas.

The families received the bodies at the Katapukur morgue situated in south Kolkata. Relatives were instructed to arrive at Narendrapur police station, where they were then escorted to the morgue to finalize the formalities and collect the remains.

Authorities indicated that those who came to retrieve the remains were first required to check in at the Narendrapur police station before proceeding to the Katapukur morgue for identification and handover processes. The Baruipur police district has also updated the respective district administrations regarding this significant development.

The district administrations along with the local police from East Midnapore, West Midnapore, and South 24 Parganas have reached out to the affected families, offering them necessary support and assistance.

The deceased have been recognized as Kartik Jana, Nantu Khada, Subrata Khada, Prosenjit Ghara, Sandip Kumar Maiti, Krishnandu Dhara, Gurupada Sau, Basudeb Haldar, Basudeb Bera, Buddhadev Jana, Biswajit Sau, Khudiram Dinda, Shashank Jana, Bimal Maiti, Jaydev Majhi, Ramakrishna Mandal, Sujit Singh, and Tapankumar Dolui.

The catastrophic fire erupted on the evening of January 26 at a warehouse owned by Pushpanjali Decorators and subsequently spread to an adjacent establishment associated with Wow Momo. Initially, 27 fatalities were confirmed, with several others reported missing.

Families of those still unaccounted for have lodged complaints at Narendrapur police station. Due to the severe charring of the remains, immediate identification was impossible, prompting the need for DNA testing. Blood samples from relatives were collected and compared with the recovered remains to confirm identities.

Officials noted that DNA matching for the nine missing individuals remains incomplete, and the identification process will conclude once the remaining forensic reports are available. Death certificates will be issued to families through the relevant panchayat authorities.

In the meantime, Gangadhar Das, the owner of the decorators’ warehouse, along with Raja Chakraborty and Manoranjan Sit, managers of the Wow Momo-linked facility, have been taken into custody in connection with the incident. They are currently held at the Baruipur correctional facility as investigations are ongoing.