Fire breaks out at Kolkata's famous Presidency University

Kolkata, Oct. 29 (ANI): A major fire broke out early on Friday at the newly formed Presidency University, which is housed at the erstwhile Presidency College.

Eleven fire tenders were rushed to control the blaze in the chemistry department on the third floor of the Derozio building, university and college officials said.

They said there were no casualties as the institution was closed for holidays.

"The fire started at around 4 a.m. It is yet to be controlled. The reasons are not yet known. There is a cause for concern as chemicals are stored in the chemistry department," the college's acting principal, Amitabha Chattopadhyay said.

Founded in 1817 as Hindu College, the institution was christened Presidency College in 1855.

Earlier this year the West Bengal assembly passed a bill upgrading the 193 years old Presidency College into a university.

The college's alumni include nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, social reformer Swami Vivekananda, freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, filmmaker Satyajit Ray, Marxist legend Jyoti Basu, economist Amartya Sen and scientist Satyendranath Bose.(ANI)