A student who is pursuing her postgraduation at Calcutta University was one of the residents of the women’s hostel on the Lee Memorial Mission campus whose belongings were charred on Friday.
Even hours later, she sounded too distraught to speak. She has “lost every-thing”, she said.
Students wait on a ground in the locality after being evacuated from the Lee Memorial Mission campus.
Her account
“I was in the College Street area when a friend called to inform me that our building had caught fire. I panicked and immediately rushed to the campus.
“By the time I reached the campus, there was a huge crowd outside. Schoolchildren were already out of the building and were crossing the road in a queue.
“When I tried to enter the building, I was stopped by someone (she could not recall who), who told me that it was not safe to go upstairs. I told him all my books and belongings were there on the third floor.
“As I started climbing the stairs, a strong stench of burned articles hit me like a wave. I reached the second floor.
“My worst fears were confirmed when I saw that my room was one of the two that were affected.
“For a few seconds, I could not breathe. The books I had left on my table were gutted. The entire room was full of water and I had to wade through ankle-deep, dark brown water to reach my cot.
“It was also burnt. Some of my duffel bags were partially burnt. Everything I was touching was wet and slushy.
“I could barely assess what exactly I had lost when one of the firefighters told me to leave the place as it was not safe to breathe the fumes from the burning of the walls and the furniture.
“One of my friends who was accompanying me started weeping.
“It all appeared unreal... to have lost so much in such a short time. In a few minutes, my life had been jolted. I called my family to inform them about what happened. I will go back again to check if I can recover anything more.”
