Over 100 shops gutted in Maa Bamleshwari Temple fire in Chhattisgarh

Raipur/Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh) May 5 (IANS) Over 100 shops were gutted in a massive fire that broke out on Friday morning in Maa Bamleshwari Temple in Dongargarh of Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh police said. The shops were located in the vicinity of the temple.

Confirming the incident Rajnandgaon Superintendent of Police Prashant Agrawal said: The fire broke out due to a short-circuit in the temple compound. A large number of shops were destroyed in the ravaging fire. Police and fire-fighters reached the spot as soon as they got the information.

There was however no information of any casualty in the fire he added.

According to Agrawal the incident took place around 7 a.m.-7.30 a.m. in the morning following a short-circuit in a shop near the stairs of the temple. Gradually the fire engulfed more and more nearby shops.

Eyewitnesses said people had to run away from their shops to save their lives.

The temple being located on a hilltop also delayed the fire-fighting operation they said.

--IANS
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