Fire destroys four shops at Express road in Kanpur

KANPUR: A major fire broke out in two shops located at Express road on Thursday morning and destroyed two adjoining shops as well. The fire reportedly destroyed assets worth several lakhs of rupees.
The blaze was triggered around 6 am in the edible oil shop of one Charchil Gupta and soon spread to disposable items shop belonging to Ekhlaque Mirza and two other adjoining shops after an alleged short circuit in the electrical panel.The fire also destroyed a few rickshaws and carts parked outside the shops.
About half a dozen fire tenders were rushed to the spot after locals alerted police and fire department control rooms after they saw smoke rising from the shop. More fire tenders were pressed into action to bring the flames under control. Smoke continued to billow till 9 am and fire fighters were engaged in checking the area to prevent any further untoward incident.
“It took several tankers to douse the flames. The fire continued for nearly three hours and gutted the shops,” said a fire department official.
“The flames were triggered due to a possible short circuit in the electrical panel and before the team could reach the spot, the fire had already spread to the other shops. The matter is under investigation,” said police.