14 hurt as fire breaks out in market

PALAMPUR, May 25: Fourteen persons were injured, seven of them seriously, in a fire which broke out in the main market at Shahpur, 50 kilometers from here, last night. Property worth Rs 13 lakh (unofficially Rs 40 lakh) was also destroyed in the fire in which eight shops were gutted.

According to Additional Superintendent of Police Himanshu Mishra, the cause of fire is said to be a cylinder burst kept in a cloth house. The fire engulfed the adjoining shops within no time. The debris of a shop fell on persons engaged in fire fighting operation resulting in injuries to 14, including a police constable and a Home Guard jawan. Fire could be controlled after about three hours. DSP (HQ), SDM Dharamsala and Tehsildar Shahpur supervised the operation.

Six of the seriously injured have been referred to the PGI, Chandigarh and one to CMC, Ludhiana whereas seven persons with minor injuries are undergoing treatment at Dharamsala and Shahpur.

Meanwhile, the administration has sanctioned Rs 10,000 to the critically injured as immediate relief. A case has been registered under 285 by the district police.