Kolkata hotel fire kills at least 15 people

A fierce fire ripped through a hotel in the Indian city of Kolkata killing at least 15 people, police said on Wednesday, with some clambering out of windows and onto the rooftop to escape.

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Several people were rescued from rooms and the roof of the budget hotel, Kolkata police chief Manoj Verma told reporters after the fire broke out on Tuesday evening.

"The hotel turned into a gas chamber and it appears that many people suffocated to death," said Verma, adding an investigation had been launched to determine the cause of the blaze.

The Rituraj Hotel, which had 88 guests when the fire broke out, is located in a congested business district of central Kolkata.

About a dozen people were burned and were undergoing treatment.