Around 10 shops were gutted in a major fire that broke out at Akrafatak Bazaar under Rabindranagar police station on Thursday morning. However, no casualty has been reported.
Police said that the incident took place at around 6 am when some local residents spotted smoke billowing out of a shop. The fire soon spread to other shops which were situated in the area.
Preliminary investigation suggests that a kerosene oil store room inside the market place might have caught fire. Fire brigade also suspects that various inflammable materials were stored inside the storeroom. As a result, the fire soon spread in the locality.
The local residents initially tried to douse the flame but failed to do so as they could not reach to the source of the flames.
After being informed, six fire tenders were swung into action to douse the flame. Police also cordoned off the entire area and restricted traffic movement. The fire personnels managed to identify the source of the fire and restricted the fire from spreading further. They brought the situation under control. The incident triggered tension among the local residents.
According to the preliminary investigation, the fire department officials suspect that fire might have been caused from a stove which was being used inside a room. Police and fire brigade officials said that there was no proper firefighting mechanism in the market. The actual cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are yet to be ascertained by the officials.