Fire breaks out at Sealdah Big Bazaar

Kolkata: A fire broke out at the Big Bazar in Sealdah on Thursday morning triggering tension among the staff members and customers. No casualty or injury has been reported in the incident so far.

Some of the employees spotted smoke billowing out of the first floor of the four-storeyed shopping complex at around 10.20 am.

The security personnel of the shopping mall swung into action and tried to douse the flames with the fire fighting system available at the building. A thick black smoke soon covered the entire floor.

The shopping mall was opened at around 10 am and some customers had also started pouring in when the incident took place. The security men tried to bring the situation under control but they failed to control the spread of the smoke to the other floors.

There were, however, less number of customers in the morning hours, who were eventually safely removed from the area. The electricity connection was immediately put off following the incident.

After being informed, 4 fire tenders were pressed into action. The firemen faced difficulties to reach the source of the fire as the entire first floor was filled with smoke.

They broke the glasses on the first floor to release the smoke. Senior police officers also reached the spot and cordoned off the entire area.

The other floors of the building were soon evacuated to avert any untoward incident. According to preliminary investigation, the fire officials suspect that an electrical short circuit in the AC machine might have caused the fire. An eyewitness said there were electrical sparks from an AC machine situated at the Women and Child section of the shopping mall.