KOLKATA: A slum and several wooden furniture shops at Shatarupa Pally in Kestopur beside VIP Road were gutted around 2.45 am on Sunday after a major fire broke out in the area. About 15 fire tenders and 2 robots of the fire brigade were pressed into service that extinguished the fire in five hours. Eight persons, including two firemen, sustained injuries during fire fighting.
Sources in the Fire and Emergency Services department informed that around 35 small shops made of tin, wood, bamboo etc have been turned to ashes. The inflammable articles like wood fanned the flames.
Four residents of the slum namely Biplab Sengupta alias Buchan (43), Saiful Mandal (29),Bidhan Baidya alias Khokon (29) and Pintu Bala (32) sustained burn injury due to the blast of gas cylinders while they were helping the firemen to douse the fire.
They were shifted to Bidhannagar Seva Hospital. According to police sources, except Biplab Baidya, the remaining have been released after first aid. Baidya was later shifted to NRS hospital. Two fire brigade staff sustained minor injuries and were taken to a private hospital nearby. Both were released after administering first-aid. State Fire and Emergency Services minister Sujit Bose visited the spot.