Mamata said, "Who knows that some people deliberately set the place on fire with an ulterior motive. We have ordered an inquiry. KMC, the fire department and the police will jointly conduct the inquiry and submit its report in three days."
She added, "Why did this incident happen? There are so many inflammable objects that if anybody lit a small fire, it could turn into an inferno. The probe will study all aspects."
Fire Services minister Javed Khan said the complex in which the fire broke out was illegally constructed and most of the entry and exit gates were locked, resulting in people being trapped inside.
"We will take action against the market authorities for not having any fire safety arrangements," Khan said.
Leader of opposition in the West Bengal assembly Surjya Kanta Mishra of the Communist Party of India demanded a probe into the incident.
Nineteen people were killed in a fire that broke out early on Wednesday inside a six-storey "illegal" market building in the middle of the congested Surya Sen Street in central Kolkata.
The toll could rise as the condition of two in the nearby NRS Medical College and Hospital is critical.
The dead, mostly shop-owners and workers, were asleep in Surya Sen Market that houses shops and godowns storing inflammable objects like plastic, paper and chemicals.
Initial reports suggest a short circuit may have caused the fire in an eatery on the first floor.
The building is one of the many illegally-built highrises in the central business district, with electric wires hanging loose all over.
The inferno was detected around 3.50am while the victims were in deep sleep, police said. Around 25 fire tenders fought the blaze for more than three hours. Police said most of those trapped have been rescued by now.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee visited the site to take stock of the situation. Microphone in hand, the chief minister, in her characteristic manner, went about with crowd control, asking people to disperse and allow the rescue operations. She has announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured.
Governor M K Narayanan, too, visited.
Most of the victims are from Jharkhand and rural Bengal. While most of the dead were taken to Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, five were taken to NRS, the other hospital in the vicinity. Two were declared dead soon after. One was released after first aid. Two others are currently fighting for their lives.
The bodies have been taken to the Kolkata Police morgue for post-mortem. Eleven have been identified so far. A temporary camp has been set up in the area where Mamata and some of her ministers, including urban development minister Firhad Hakim, and fire services minister Javed Khan are staying put. The newly inducted police commissioner Surajit Kar Purakayasthya is also there along with senior colleagues. Khan was one of the first to reach the spot.
Ordering an inquiry, the chief minister said, "I have seen the building. It is a hazard. We have to come up with alternatives. The government will be stringent about safety norms. We are not in favour of pulling down buildings or cancelling licences." She said, "The KMC will give me its probe report in three days and then we shall decide what action to take. I had seen this sort of hazard at Writer' Buildings. I have known about such buildings at Rajabazar and surrounding areas, but I wasn't aware of such godowns existing in Surya Sen Street."
The fire minister said, "This is an unauthorised building. We have filed hundreds of FIRs on such unauthorized and illegal markets and godowns, there is no laxity on part of the government." He blamed the previous Left regime of 34 years squarely for allowing unauthorised construction.
Just before the CM arrived, some youths in blue hats with "rescue" written on them emerged out of nowhere. They were not there during when the fire tenders fought the fire in the wee hours. Fire-fighting and rescue operations were hampered by the heavy smoke in the narrow lanes leading to the building on fire. Also, there was only one exit in the building, which was reportedly blocked for some time due to the fire.
The entire area in around College Street has been cordoned off, leading to massive traffic snarls in central Kolkata.
This is the first major fire after the AMRI tragedy in December 2011 when 94 patients and staffers died, trapped inside the hospital in south Kolkata.
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