Man killed in Madhyamgram fire

Kolkata: A man was killed in a fire incident near the Madhyamgram railway station on Wednesday afternoon.

According to sources, around 1 pm on Wednesday, a fire broke out at a shop adjacent to the railway line near platform number 1 of the Madhyamgram railway station. Within moments, the fire spread rapidly to other adjacent shops, including a few roadside eateries and a sweetmeat shop. As several LPG cylinders were present in those eateries, they started exploding one by one, triggering panic among train passengers and residents.

However, railway services along the Sealdah–Bongaon section remained normal.

Meanwhile, about six fire tenders were pressed into action shortly after the incident. After almost five hours, the fire was doused, following which police and firefighters recovered a charred body from a shop. However, the identity of the deceased had not been established till Thursday.

The Additional Superintendent of Police (Addl. SP), Zonal, of Barasat Police District, Durbar Bandyopadhyay, said the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. He said: “We suspect that the fire might have broken out at an eatery, which spread to other establishments.

To confirm the source of the fire, we are placing a requisition for forensic examination. About 10 shops were gutted in the incident. So far, we have recovered a charred body, which is yet to be identified.”