Fire breaks out in cramped market lane, 7 shops gutted

LUCKNOW: A 28-year-old man died and another person was injured after a fire broke out in Naveen Galla Mandi on Sitapur Road, early Saturday morning. The blaze annihilated seven shops located in a cramped lane.
Police said the blaze was triggered after a short circuit. The blaze spread rapidly to other shops and two hutments, causing a loss of around Rs 80 lakh.
As per police, passersby noticed smoke billowing from shop number B-77, 78, 79, 80, C-44, 46, 45 at 1.44am and alerted the fire department and police.
Chief fire officer (Lucknow) Vijay Kumar Singh said that the department received information about the incident around 2am. "Eight fire tenders put out the fire in two-and-a-half hours," he added.
The deceased, Sanjay Kumar (28), and one of his co-workers Santosh Verma (32) were sleeping inside the shop C-45 when the fire broke out. While Sanjay choked to death, locals were able to rescue Santosh. He is undergoing treatment at Civil Hospital.
"It appears that the fire broke out after a short circuit in an electric wire, which had fallen over a heap of scrap in one of the shops. The fruit crates and cardboard boxes discarded outside the shops helped the fire spread to other units rapidly," added Singh.
President of Naveen Fruit Market Naresh Kumar said that the firemen and the ambulance reached the spot late. He also blamed the government for lack of facilities and cleanliness in the market.
"I was sleeping inside the shop I work in. Smelling the smoke, I woke up to find several shops engulfed by the flames. We were only able to rescue Santosh and alerted other workers who were sleeping inside the shop," said Dilsher.