Kanpur: Goods worth lakhs of rupees were gutted in a major fire that destroyed at least 15 shops here early Monday, police said. Three people received minor burns.
The fire that is believed to have erupted from a shop, following an electric short-circuit, engulfed several establishments in the Babupurwa market.
"Within minutes, the fire engulfed the shops and started spreading to residential set-ups in the area. However, with the timely intervention of the firefighters, the fire could not destroy the houses near the accident site," police inspector KS Saroj told reporters in Kanpur, some 80 km from Lucknow.
According to police, initially, locals tried to douse the flames, during which three of them suffered minor burns.
"Most of the shops destroyed in the fire are of garments, grocery and other daily use items. The situation is now completely under control. As the incident occurred early morning, not many people were present in the market," said Saroj.
"Even as the exact financial loss is yet to be ascertained, it is being pegged at around Rs 30-35 lakh," he added.
IANS
First Published: Monday, March 14, 2011, 11:17