Kolkata, March 26: With the recovery of one more body from fire ravaged Stephen Court, toll mounted to 25 on Friday.
The body was found from the fifth floor of the building and its gender was yet to be ascertained, the police said.
The body, charred beyond recognition, was taken to SSKM Hospital for postmortem.
Several persons are still missing after a massive fire swept through the 150-year-old multi-storeyed heritage building housing offices and residences in Kolkata’s busy Park Street on Tuesday.
A stench from one corner of the fifth floor had prompted the firemen to look for possible bodies hidden underneath the rubble that was being cleared by the Kolkata Municipal Workers employees.
Several persons had jumped from the burning floors to death.
No knowledge of Stephen Court files missing: Mayor
Amidst reports that crucial files relating to fire ravaged Stephen Court had gone missing, the municipal authorities denied they had any knowledge on the issue.
“I have no knowledge that crucial files of the building (Stephen Court) are missing from Kolkata Municipal Corporation headquarters,” Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya told PTI here.
Media reports said the crucial files of the heritage building went missing after West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had said the two upper floors of Stephen Court on Park Street had been constructed illegally.
He also blamed a section of administration for helping such constructions.
CM’s direct accusation of a section of the administration having connections in illegal constructions in the city has prompted the civic authorities to launch a drive to identify unlawful structures in the metropolis, KMC sources said.
Meanwhile, residents of Stephen Court, rendered homeless by the tragedy, were granted 30 minutes to enter the premises and collect their belongings from the building during the day.
The Calcutta High Court has directed a halt in the demolition work in response to a petition by residents of Stephen Court yesterday.
Following the order, demolition of the damaged fifth and sixth floors had been stopped by KMC.
—-PTI