Tarapith (WB) | At least seven people were killed and several others critically injured in a fire at a hotel in West Bengal's Birbhum district early on Monday, police said.

The fire erupted around 5 am on the ground floor of the four-storey hotel in the temple town of Tarapith, when most of the guests were asleep, they said.

Fire tenders were rushed to the spot, and they brought the blaze under control.

The injured were taken to the Rampurhat Government Medical College and Hospital.

Sources in the hospital initially said that five people had died in the blaze. However, police later revised the toll to seven.

Hotel officials claimed the fire was caused by a short circuit.