IMPHAL, Dec 11: A major fire completely gutted 13 shops and another two rooms of a house, destroying properties worth about Rs 40 lakh at Lilong bazaar in Thoubal district of Manipur early Tuesday.
The incident occurred around 7:45 am when the inferno reportedly started from a tea stall engulfed the two-story wooden superstore and another three rooms of an adjacent house, leaving them to cinders.
The owner of the tea stall, Shivachandra Prashad, 72, hailing from Bihar’s Samstipur district, said the blaze started after the pipe of the domestic gas cylinder used at the stall leaked and soon went up in flames and exploded. His face was seen partially burned in the fire.
Locals of the area tried to control the raging fire but without success, prompting them to call in fire tenders from Imphal Fire Service and Thoubal Fire Service. Four fire tenders from Imphal Fire Service and another one from Thoubal Fire Service were put into service. They put out the blaze around 9:40 am preventing it from further spreading to other buildings nearby. Eye witnesses said personnel of 44 Assam Rifles initially assisted the locals to douse the fire before the fire tenders came.
The superstore is located not too far on the northern side of Lilong Police Station. It is owned by three individuals, namely Md Kiyamuddin from Kiyamgei, Hesamuddin of Lilong Khunou and Md Abjan Khan. The house whose two rooms engulfed in the fire belonged to him.
The 13 shops include one CD cassette parlour, one mobile repairing shop, two tailoring shops and another computer shop in the upstairs, while two tea stalls, one shop dealing in Moreh items, two wholesale shops dealing in grocery items, one cycle workshop, one stationery shop and another book store on the down floor.
Agriculture minister Md Nasir accompanied by Deputy Commissioner, Thoubal and Sub-Divisional Officer, Lilong along with his staff visited the site and looked over the fire incident and later collected a detailed report on it.
Meanwhile, M Gouro, SDO, Lilong said that properties worth around 40 lakh had been destroyed by the fire at Lilong bazaar. However, some residents of the area said that the properties lost in the fire might worth around 50 lakh.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/shops-gutted-in-fire/
