Kolkata, Jun 8 (IANS): Former minister and Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra suffered from breathing problems after a fire broke out at the ground floor of his Bhawanipur residence on Tuesday morning.

Mitra was rushed out of the house and was given oxygen support. Three fire tenders brought the blaze under control at the century-old building.

The incident happened at 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning when the members of the family noticed smoke from the ground floor of the building. All the members of the family rushed out of the house but Mitra who is a COPD patient suddenly started having breathing problems and he was immediately put on oxygen support.

"I am a patient of COPD and a huge amount of Carbon-dioxide entered me suddenly. I started having breathing problems. My family members gave oxygen and now I am feeling better," Madan Mitra said.

However, Mitra did not say anything regarding the cause of the fire. "This is an old building and I cannot really know what caused the fire," he added.

Presumably, the fire started from a short circuit, said a fire services official.

"Though we don't know exactly, as of now a purifier is suspected to be the cause of the short circuit. An investigation will be done," the official said.