A storekeeper who worked for a fast-food company left home on Sunday evening for his night shift.
He called his wife at 3.30am on Monday to tell her that there was a fire at his workplace and he might not be able to make it out alive.
Moushumi Halder, the mother of a three-year-old child, is still waiting to hear from her husband, Pankaj Halder.
Dozens of anxious relatives like Moushumi gathered outside the warehouses in Nazirabad on Tuesday, frantically trying to locate traces of life in the mangled remains of iron structures.
“He left home around 9.30pm. I received his call around 3.30am the next morning. He told me about the fire and that he might not survive. I tried calling him after that, but the phone was switched off,” Moushumi broke down.
The family of three lives in a rented apartment in Garia with the lone breadwinner missing.
Several family members who had travelled hundreds of kilometres after hearing the news of the fire, queued up outside the charred premises, hoping to catch a glimpse of their near and dear ones — alive or dead.
When are they going to clean the area and search for our men? was the one question on their lips.
They lamented the fact that the rescue work could not be expedited.
“Can we expect anyone to survive in this condition? Why couldn’t the structures be cleared earlier?” questioned Amal Jana, whose brother Sasanka is one of those reported missing.
Amal, who has come from East Midnapore, said: “My brother helped others to flee. He woke up my nephew Susanta and others. Susanta jumped from the staircase and survived. But my brother could not come out. There is no trace of him.”
A forensic team was present at the scene on Tuesday. A group from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation is engaged in debris removal. Yet, the combination of fire pockets and the forensic assessment resulted in a slow start.
An uncle of another missing man, Debaditya Dinda, was in tears. “I have come for my nephew. We are still hoping against hope,” the uncle said.
The Dindas are also from East Midnapore.
Priyanka Santra, elder sister of Anup Pradhan from Pingla in West Midnapore, said Anup had left home a fortnight ago and had last spoken to the family on Saturday night. A missing persons report has been filed with the police by his family.
Talking to Metro over the phone from Pingla on Tuesday, Krishnendu Dhara’s mother-in-law, Mira Mondal, said that the family realised Krishnendu was missing when they failed to contact him over the phone.
The police stated that by Tuesday evening, they had received missing information about 14 people who worked in the warehouses.
Several families submitted written notifications to the Narendrapur police station expressing their readiness to participate in DNA matching tests.
“My son Raju Manna was inside. He is still missing. We are ready for a DNA test if needed to match with the bodies,” said Raju’s mother, Sima. The family is from Tamluk in East Midnapore.