India, Jan. 26 -- Three persons were killed, and 13 others are missing in a deadly fire that broke out in the Najirabad area of the South 24 Parganas district in the early hours of Monday and gutted two warehouses, police said.

"Till around 5:30 pm, charred bodies of at least three persons were recovered. Family members of the remaining 13 persons tried to contact them over mobile phones. But their phones were either switched off or were going unanswered. Work to douse the flames completely and remove the debris is still going on," said an officer of the Baruipur police district.

Some of those missing had called up their families, saying they were trapped in a fire at the warehouse.

"My son-in-law, Pankaj Halder, called me up and said ...