Nine people, including two women and a child, died after a fire broke out at a hotel building on Mirza Ghalib Street in Central Kolkata early Wednesday morning. Initial findings by the police and the West Bengal Fire Services Department indicate that the victims likely died from suffocation rather than burn injuries.

Officials at the scene said the fire itself may not have been particularly intense, but thick black smoke quickly spread throughout the building, severely affecting visibility and making it difficult for people inside to breathe or find their way out.