Bhubaneswar: Over 40 shops were gutted and goods worth lakhs of rupees were destroyed in a major fire at Unit-I Haat in Bhubaneswar early on Tuesday, police said. The fire broke out around 1.30 am and over 13 fire tenders and 80 personnel took hours to douse the inferno, they said, adding no casualty has been reported so far.
Chief Fire Officer Ramesh Chandra Majhi said it was difficult to control the fire as the shops were located close to each other and there was no space for the movement of men and material. Another fire officer said that two persons were sleeping in a shop at the time of the incident but they managed to escape unhurt. Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das said that the fire spread rapidly as the shops were made up of plastic materials. She said that many shops are erected in a small area in the haat, leading to frequent fire incidents.