Bhubaneswar: Fire Services and ODRAF personnel are struggling to bring the massive fire under control even after 12 hours after it broke out at Laxmi Market Complex in Puri late on Wednesday night.
The blaze erupted at a garments shop on the first floor of Laxmi Market Complex in Marichikot Chhak on Grand Road around 8 pm yesterday. Gradually, the fire spread to other shops at the shopping complex. It has now spread to the first floor and completely devoured two warehouses on the first floor.
So far, around 100 people were rescued from the market complex, while at least three Fire Services personnel were injured during the rescue operation.
“Three people have been injured. They have been admitted to hospital for treatment,” Gokul Ranjan Das, IIC Town Police Station, Puri said.
The cause of the fire could not be ascertained till the filing of the report. However, it is suspected that short-circuit sparked the fire.
Firefighting units were mobilised at the spot. ODRAF teams also reached in the wee hours of Thursday and joined the rescue operation.
“More than 10 teams are engaged in rescue operations and are underway to douse the blaze,” the IIC added.
Till the time of filing this report, rescue operations were on till the time of filing the report. As the market complex is located in a narrow lane, it is posing obstacles for the rescuers, officials said.
“We are facing a lot of hurdles in controlling the fire due to narrow space. Some of the shutters of the shops have been deformed. We have vacated the nearby buildings and also removed all inflammable substances from the region. We are trying our best to douse the fire completely as soon as possible. Hopefully, the fire will be completely doused in a few hours,” said Fire Brigade personnel Ramesh Chandra Majhi.
