Kolkata Warehouse Fire (2026): Workers Killed While Sleeping in Godowns Without Fire Clearance

In the early hours of 26 January 2026, while most of the country was getting ready for Republic Day, fire tore through two adjoining warehouses at Nazirabad, near Anandapur on the southern edge of Kolkata. Workers were asleep inside. Many never woke up, and many who did found no safe way out.

When and where

• Date: 26 January 2026, around 3 am
• Place: Nazirabad, Anandapur area, Kolkata, West Bengal
• Buildings: two adjoining storage units, one used by a decorator’s business and one by the food chain Wow! Momo

What happened

The fire broke out before dawn and spread quickly through the densely stocked godowns. Workers who had stayed overnight after their shifts were sleeping inside. One survivor told reporters that about 20 people were sleeping in one room, and that he had to jump from the roof to escape. Twelve fire tenders took about seven hours to bring the fire under control, and firefighting and recovery went on over several days.

The toll has been reported differently. Police and fire services’ initial estimates put the dead at at least 21, while later reports, carried in the NHRC’s media compilation, gave the toll as 25. Many of the remains were so badly burnt that DNA testing was needed to identify them. Ten days after the fire, families were still waiting for DNA results. In February, the toll was reported as 27; see the latest update below.

(Sources: ETV Bharat, 28 January 2026; The Week, 29 January 2026; NHRC media compilation, 1 February 2026; The Quint, 5 February 2026.)

What went wrong

• No fire safety clearance. A senior fire services official said no fire safety clearance had been issued for the unit (ETV Bharat).
• People sleeping in a godown. Workers routinely stayed overnight in buildings that were never meant to be dormitories (The Quint; The Week).
• Escape cut off. Preliminary assessments pointed to blocked exits and dense storage of flammable material (NHRC media compilation). Families alleged that warehouse doors were bolted from the outside; this has not been confirmed.
• No working fire protection or emergency plan. Fire officials said the godown lacked proper fire safety measures (ETV Bharat).
• Built on encroached land. Police said both facilities were built on illegally encroached land (The Week). A victim’s relative said the area was a wetland; that has not been officially confirmed.

What the authorities did

• The owner of the decorator’s business, Gangadhar Das, was arrested on 27 January after an FIR at Narendrapur police station and was remanded to police custody.
• The Wow! Momo warehouse manager and deputy manager were detained on 30 January and remanded to police custody.
• The National Human Rights Commission took suo motu cognisance and sought reports from the West Bengal government, Kolkata police and the state labour department on fire safety compliance, inspections and the accountability of owners.
• The state announced ex-gratia compensation for the families of those killed.

As far as we could find, no official list of the dead or investigation report has been published.

Latest update (19 October 2026)

On 21 February 2026, the remains of 18 victims were handed over to their families at the Katapukur morgue after DNA matching, IANS reported. The agency first put the toll at 45, but a later version said official sources had clarified that the toll stays at 27: the 18 identified were among the dead, not extra deaths, and DNA matching for nine more victims was still pending. MillenniumPost also gave the toll as 27 in October. We have not found a published official list, so 27 is the latest reported figure, not a confirmed final count.

On the night of Friday 16 October 2026, a fresh fire broke out at the same warehouse at Nazirabad, Narendrapur, which had stood abandoned since January. Four fire engines were sent and no one was hurt. Sangbad Pratidin said the fire was brought under control in about an hour; MillenniumPost said it took several hours. According to Sangbad Pratidin, preliminary inquiries found that some flammable material had been kept at one spot inside, and nobody was there when it caught fire. Sonarpur Uttar MLA Debasish Dhar visited the site, said oil-based material had been stored in the godown, and did not rule out arson. Police have begun an inquiry. Wow! Momo’s chief executive told Sangbad Pratidin that the company no longer has a godown there.

Up to 19 October 2026, we found no report of a chargesheet, a court ruling or a published inquiry report. The second fire is a reminder that a burnt-out building with stock still inside stays a fire risk long after the first fire is put out.

How this could have been prevented

• No one should be allowed to sleep inside a warehouse or godown full of stock. If workers must stay overnight, they need a separate, safe room with its own exit.
• No warehouse should operate without fire department clearance and regular inspection.
• Every storage building needs at least two clear, unlocked exits, and nobody should ever lock workers in from outside.
• Smoke detection and alarms would have woken people while there was still time.
• Flammable stock should be stored in limited quantities, away from wiring and with gaps for access.
• Night-time inspections of industrial areas would show who is actually sleeping where.

How to survive a night fire in a factory or godown

• The safest choice is not to sleep inside a godown or factory at all.
• If you wake to smoke or fire, shout and wake everyone around you.
• Stay low, where the air is cleaner, and cover your nose and mouth with a cloth.
• Feel your way along the wall towards the exit you know. Do not go towards thick smoke.
• If the exit is blocked, get to a window or the roof, close the door between you and the fire, and shout or wave a cloth or phone light to be seen.
• Once out, stay out. Call 101 or 112 and tell the fire brigade how many people may still be inside.

Key figures

Indicator	What is known
Deaths	At least 21 (police and fire services’ initial estimate); 25 in later reports; 27 per official sources quoted by IANS, 21 February 2026
Time of fire	Around 3 am, while workers slept
Fire safety clearance	None issued, according to fire services
Identification of victims	DNA testing needed for many remains
Likely main killers	Smoke and being trapped without a way out

Pictures

Voices

Survivor Sushant Jana told The Quint: “I could barely breathe.” Families of the missing spoke of waiting days for even a scrap of clothing or a wristwatch to confirm a death.

The lesson

Letting people live and sleep in unsafe storage buildings is a danger that owners create and authorities allow. Fire safety has to be checked before night falls, not after the bodies are counted.

What you can do

• If you or someone you know sleeps at a workplace, ask where the second exit is and whether there is a smoke alarm.
• Report godowns and factories where workers sleep among stock, or where exits are locked, to the fire department or labour department.
• Ask any factory or warehouse owner you deal with to show their fire clearance.
• Teach workers the basics of escaping a night fire.
• Share this case so others understand the risk.

This is why we started HowToSurvive.in: to teach people what the system failed to teach before the fire.

More on Kolkata: see our Kolkata fire and emergency safety guide for fire brigade numbers, every fire station and the local risks to know.