West Bengal: Two dead, over 200 shops gutted in fire at Kolkata market
KOLKATA: A major fire gutted over 200 shops at Gora Bazaar market in Dumdum here on Monday, claiming two lives in the incident.
The charred bodies of the two persons – identified as Sunil Sahu and Vicky Sahu — were recovered from the same shop, according to sources.
Sources revealed that kachori seller Sunil Sahu and his helper Vicky Sahu had slept in the shop to get up early in morning because of Saraswati Puja festivities. Initial investigation revealed that both of them got trapped in the shop and died of asphyxiation.
The fire raged at 1.45 am and it took eight hours for 22 fire tender engines to extinguish the blaze. The cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained.
Apart from the shops, the blaze also gutted a nationalised bank branch.
“Fire is under control now. Short circuit is unlikely to be the reason behind the blaze. The fire spread rapidly due to the closeness of the shops. Had this happened during daytime, the toll would have been much higher,” a fire official said. According to initial estimates, the blaze has caused losses of around Rs 20 crore.
On the other hand, locals complained that the fire tender engines were dispatched late which aggravated the fire.
“Only one engine had come in the first two hours during which the fire engulfed the entire market,” a local shopkeeper said.
Meanwhile, another blaze gutted a market in Coochbehar district in north Bengal. However, no casualties were reported there.