Picture after the accident.
– Photo: Amar Ujala
Expansion
A massive fire broke out in the fruit market of Purnia. The flames were so strong that within no time the wood mill and more than a hundred shops were engulfed in flames. This caused a loss of more than Rs 50 crore. The exact assessment of the damage caused in the incident has not been done yet. The incident took place late on Sunday night in Khushkibag fruit market of Sadar police station area. Fruit shopkeepers and local people tried to extinguish the fire, but were unsuccessful.
Help from Katihar, Araria and Air Force station also
After this, this information was given to the District Officer and Fire Department. After this, more than dozens of vehicles of the fire department from Purnia including Araria and Katihar districts reached the spot and started controlling the fire. The fire has been described as a spark of fire. This was confirmed by Purnia District Magistrate (DM) Kundan Kumar. District Officer Kundan Kumar said that as soon as we received the information, there was a fire in Khushkibag fruit market. Upon receiving the information, the fire department was immediately alerted. Also, two big fire tenders immediately reached the spot. Katihar and Araria fire tenders including Bayasi, Banmankhi and Dhamdaha were called. Apart from this, Cres Fire Brigade was also called from the Air Force in which all the facilities are available. He said that 12 big fire tenders and 14 small fire tenders have been called.
Fire caused by fireworks at wedding ceremony
The District Officer said that the exact cause of the fire has not been clear. All the officials including Purnia SP Upendra Nath Verma, Sadar SDO Rakesh Raman and Sadar SDPO are camping here. He said that SDRF team has also come and the medical team has been alerted. Local people say that the fire broke out due to fireworks at a wedding ceremony.