Kolkata hotel fire: Kushtia journalist dies along with wife, child, father-in-law
Four of the people who died in the horrific fire at a residential hotel in Kolkata, India, were from Kushtia. Among them are a journalist, his wife, his child, and his father-in-law.
The deceased Debashish Datta was the Kushtia correspondent for Ajker Patrika and the private television station Channel Nine. Additionally, he was the executive editor of the Kushtia-based newspaper Ajker Alo.
In that incident, his wife Afsana Sharmin (27), son Shornoshish Datta (3) and father-in-law Akram Hossain (60) died. They had gone to Bengaluru in Karnataka, India, 15 days ago for medical treatment. They were scheduled to return to the country today, Wednesday.
Last night, on Tuesday, nine people, including a child, died in a horrific fire at a residential hotel on Mirza Ghalib Street near New Market in Kolkata. Among them were those four individuals from Kushtia.
Journalist Debashish Datta (39) was the son of Dilip Datta from Aruapara in Kushtia town. This morning, Dilip Datta received the news of the deaths of his son, daughter-in-law and their child. He saw pictures of his son's (Debashish's) body on social media.
Dilip Datta told Prothom Alo this afternoon that Debashish has a son and a daughter. Leaving his daughter Fahima (8) behind, he went to India on 3 August with his wife and son. Two days later, his father-in-law also went to Kolkata.
First, they stayed in Kolkata for two days. Then they went to Bengaluru for his wife's and son's medical treatment. At eleven o'clock last Monday night, they arrived in Kolkata by plane and checked into a hotel there. This morning, Dilip Datta learned that they had all died in the fire.
Following the news of Debashish's death, friends, journalists and neighbours have been gathering at his home since this morning. Having lost her son, mother Swapna Datta is nearly frantic with grief.
With a voice choked with tears, she kept saying, "My Deba (Debashish) will be home shortly. Why is he taking so long? Last night he said he was packing his bags. He was supposed to start his journey home in the morning."