Fire cause huge losses in Mandi town

Mandi, Nov 9 (UNI) Fourteen shops and three residential houses were gutted in a devastating fire that broke out in Mandi town of Himachal Pradesh late last night, police sources today said.

The fire, which started from a shop near Bhutnath Temple at around midnight, soon spread to the adjoining shops made of highly inflammable deodar timber and houses, destroying property estimated to be in several hundred thousand.

Sources said although no loss of life was reported in the incident, one person whose shop was gutted in the incident died of shock early this morning.

Fire personnel battled to control the fire for over four hours putting it out after it had gutted 15 shops, including a paint and a hardware shop, and three residential houses, sources said.

Fire tenders from Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) and NTPC rushed to the site to assist the local fire personnel in putting out the fire, according to the sources.

Mandi SDM B S Dehal said the district administration has distributed an immediate relief of Rs 10,000 each to the people whose shops were destroyed in the fire, Rs 25,000 each to the affected families and Rs 500 each to people who suffered minor injuries.

The cause of the fire was, however, not immediately known, he said, adding that a case had been registered and investigations were on.

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