Thursday, 18 December 2025
Thursday, 18 December 2025
East Calcutta woke up to the sound of explosions at regular intervals in the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday. A fire at a medical oxygen storage facility in Kankurgachi’s Lohapatty shattered window panes and jolted the neighbours out of their beds around 2.30am onwards.
The fire broke out at the medical oxygen cylinder godown located at 150 Ghoshbagan Lane in the Lohapatty area of Kankurgachi. Local residents said they first heard a loud explosion around 2.30am, followed by a series of blasts as one cylinder after another ruptured inside the storage facility. The sound of the explosions was reportedly audible up to Salt Lake.
“Next to our house is a gas factory. At 2.30 in the night, there was a huge blast. All of us left the building. The sound and impact were very bad. So bad that we thought we were going to die,” said Dilip Kumar Gupta, a resident of 150E, Maniktala, Kankurgachi.
The impact of the explosions caused structural damage to nearby houses, with cracks appearing on boundary walls and sections of plaster collapsing.
Glass windows and doors in several homes were completely shattered by the force of the blasts.
Residents described scenes of panic as the force of the blasts sent debris flying across lanes. According to locals, explosions continued for nearly 20 to 25 minutes, during which more than 100 cylinders are believed to have burst. One cylinder was flung several hundred metres and landed near a residential building, while others landed on the adjacent road.
The blaze quickly spread to adjacent plastic and iron godowns. A burning cylinder also flew into a neighbouring thread factory, triggering another major fire. Thick smoke and flames engulfed the area, forcing residents to flee their homes in the middle of the night.
Fifteen fire engines were deployed along with personnel from the disaster management department. After hours of effort, firefighters managed to bring the fire under control by early morning. At daybreak, damaged shop roofs and charred tin sheets could be seen being removed to prevent flare-ups.
No casualties have been reported so far. Local MLA Supti Pandey visited the spot as authorities began investigating whether adequate fire safety measures were in place at the godown.
