Kolkata, Aug. 18 -- Nine people, including two children, were killed in a fire at a hotel at Tarapith, a temple town in West Bengal's Birbhum district, early on Monday, officials said, adding that a person was arrested for alleged lapses in the maintenance of the fire-fighting system at the establishment. According to officials, the fire broke out around 4.30 am at the reception area on the ground floor of the four-storey hotel, when most of the guests were asleep. The blaze spread rapidly through decorative and wooden materials inside the hotel, with smoke billowing to the upper floors and trapping several guests in their rooms, they added. "Overall, 43 people were rescued. Of them nine have died. While five of the deceased were from Meghalaya, four were from Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri districts in West Bengal," said Birbhum superintendent of police (SP) Vidit Raj Bhundesh. The deceased included two children, aged eight and ten. Some people sustained burn injuries, while others fell ill due to asphyxiation, officials said, adding the injured were taken to a state-run hospital and later discharged after treatment. Soon after the incident, fire tenders were rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control. Many of the guests at the hotel were devotees who had come to offer prayers at the Tarapith Temple - dedicated to Goddess Tara - on the last Monday of Shravan month. Officials said the exact cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained. However, hotel officials claimed while talking to reporters that the fire was caused by a short circuit near the hotel's reception after an electrical component of the power supply system caught fire. Preliminary investigations revealed that the hotel's front door access was cut due to the fire in the reception area. Emergency exits on each floor were locked and the terrace door was also blocked with plywood, trapping the smoke, the SP said. "There was a back door which was locked. The terrace door was also blocked. This trapped the smoke. Had the emergency exit and the terrace doors were open, more people could have survived," the SP added....