The mother of the children saw them for the last time at the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College & Hospital morgue where the forensic department conducted a post mortem on the bodies.
"They were with me yesterday...and today we're taking them to the pyre", says an inconsolable mother who lost both of her minor children to the devastating fire in a hotel in Kolkata's Burrabazar area that took the lives of 15 people and injured two others.
The fire broke out around 7:30 PM on April 29 in the six-storey Rituraj Hotel and quickly engulfed the building, trapping several of the 88 guests lodged in 42 rooms at the time.
The majority of the victims died due to suffocation, while a few reportedly jumped off upper floors in panic and got injured.
The cause under investigation but reports suggest gross negligence and flouting of fire safety norms by the hotel.
One of the most horrifying case was that of the family hailing from Tamil Nadu.
According to reports, three year old P Raut and her 10 year old sister P Diya were inside their hotel room along with their grandfather(identity not revealed yet) while their parents had gone out to buy dinner.
By the time they returned to the hotel, it was engulfed in fire.
The bodies of the grandfather along with his two grandchildren were kept in two Kolkata hospital morgues by the Kolkata Police after they recovered the body from the site.
The mother of the children saw them for the last time at the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College & Hospital morgue where the forensic department conducted a post mortem on the bodies.
On the afternoon of April 30, the inconsolable mother was seen screaming and sharing about the last few moments spent with her children, in her mother tongue, "I can recall my children with me yesterday this time and now I am taking them to the funeral pyre", she continued to howl as the bodies of her children were being carried on a stretcher.
Another deceased, a man hailing from Cuttack, Odisha identified as Rajesh Kumar Santuka, 61 who also got trapped inside his hotel room when the fire broke out.
The brother of the deceased, Gajendra Kumar Santuka spoke to the reporters where he said that his brother was a frequent customer at Rituraj Hotel as he had to travel to Kolkata often for his textile business back at home.
Gajendra Kumar Santuka asked, "What were the hotel staff doing?", he continued, "they escaped the fire leaving behind the customers to die in their rooms".
Santuka is survived by his parents, wife, brothers and children.
A doctor from Gaya, identified as Rajesh Kumar, 50 also passed away due to suffocation inside the hotel, as confirmed by an acquaintance of him. Reportedly, Kumar was also a frequent visitor in Kolkata and was lodged in Rituraj.
Mayor Firhad Hakim on Wednesday said a high-level inquiry committee will be formed to probe the incident.
He assured the reporters, "Proceedings will be initiated against anyone found responsible."
"Why are complaints not raised when violations take place?" he questioned, drawing a comparison to the recent terror attack in Pahalgam.
"Just like terrorists’ houses are blown up only after the killings, action on such claims of illegal structures seems to come only after loss of life."
BJP councillor Sajal Ghosh levelled serious allegations, claiming illegal constructions were allowed in the hotel and that a bar was being set up on the premises with tacit approval from top officials in the municipal corporation.
"There are countless complaints of illegal construction across the city, but rarely is any action taken," Ghosh said at NRS Hospital, where some victims were admitted.
"Inquiry committees are formed after every major incident, but nothing ever comes of them," he added.