Property worth Rs 5.2m gutted as 11 shops catch fire in Sunsari
DHARAN: As many as 11 shops were gutted in the blaze that spread in Palika vegetable market in Dharan Sub-metropolitan City-3 of Sunsari district in the wee hours today.
A few cosmetic shops and vegetable shops in the front row of the market were gutted in the blaze, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Gyanendra Basnet at Dharan-based Area Police Office. It has been reported that property worth Rs 5.2 million were gutted in the blaze.
Shops owned by Kalpana Tamang, Rama Chauhan Khatiwada, Anita Acharju, Basim Shrestha, Gyan Kumar Shrestha, Prabina Limbu, Indira Shrestha, Meera Niraula, Surendra Chaudhary, Lal Bahadur Rai, and Yam Kumar BK in the corrugated metal-roof sheds were completely gutted.
A fire brigade belonging to the sub-metropolis, with the help of police and local residents, brought the blaze under control. It took about two hours to douse the fire that broke out at around 4:30 am. However, locals alleged that the fire engine reached the site late, which is why property in such huge amount was destroyed.
"Had the fire engine arrived in time, the blaze could not have spread so much as to destroy such a huge amount of property," the shop owners lamented.
Preliminary investigation points to electrical short-circuit as the cause of the blaze, DSP Basnet said. Meanwhile, full investigation into the incident is underway, police informed.
