BHUBANESWAR: At least 23 fruit shops were reduced to ashes after a major fire broke out at Maa Tarini vending zone near Kalpana Square here late on Thursday night. Goods worth lakhs of rupees were destroyed before the flames were doused by fire service personnel.
Speaking to Express, one of the shopkeepers said, “I closed my shop at 11 pm and the staff were sleeping inside. Around midnight, they realised that the shops in the vending zone had caught fire, following which they rushed outside and informed the fire service personnel.” Out of 33 shops, about 23 have been completely damaged in the blaze, he added.
Another shopkeeper said he was informed about the massive fire accident by his staff but by the time he arrived, the blaze had started spreading rapidly.
However, fruit vendor Dandapani Sahoo suspected foul play behind the fire accident and said each shop had fruits worth Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000. Fire officials should thoroughly investigate the matter, he said.
On being informed, three fire fighting vehicles along with 14 personnel rushed to the spot to control the blaze. It took around an hour to douse the fire. According to preliminary investigation, it seems the fire erupted due to a short circuit in one of the shops. Further investigation is on, said fire personnel.
On Friday morning, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation vehicles were sent to the spot to remove the damaged fruits and other articles from the area.