Five people were charred to death and property worth several crore rupees was gutted when a fire broke out in a shop in the Sipri Bazar area of Jhansi district here in Uttar Pradesh, police sources said here on Tuesday.
Police sources said that a shop caught fire due to a short circuit in the Sipri Bazar area on Monday evening. “There were electronic and mobile shops, along with a furniture store in the basement of the three-story building and a generator on the terrace. The fire spread very quickly and engulfed the shops in the building, along with an adjacent shop,” they said.
Police sources said that senior officers and fire tenders reached the spot and started efforts to control the blaze. “The fire was so severe that a total of 35 vehicles from Jalaun, Lalitpur, as well as Datia and Orchha in Madhya Pradesh, were pressed into service. The situation became so bad that the administration had to take the help of the army as well,” they said.
Police sources said that the fire could be controlled at 4 am on Tuesday after a 12 hours rescue operation. “Five people, including a woman identified as Ragini Rajput (58), were killed in the incident. Efforts are being made to ascertain the identities of four other deceased,” they said.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajesh S said that seven people were rescued during the rescue and relief operation and were admitted to the hospital, where a woman succumbed to her injuries.
District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said that it is very important to find out the cause of the fire in the electronic and furniture shops. “Deputy Collector Sanjay Mishra has been entrusted with the investigation of this entire matter. He will investigate in detail what led to such a fire so that recurrences of such tragic incidents can be prevented in the future,” he said.
