By IANS,
Mathura (Uttar Pradesh) : Goods worth Rs.50 lakh were destroyed after a broke out at a wholesale grain market here Friday, police said.
The fire engulfed around 30 establishments of the Mandi Samiti. The market is governed by the State Agriculture Produce and Marketing Board.
“Within a few minutes, the fire, which is believed to have erupted from one establishment, spread to other setups, destroying them completely,” police inspector Atar Singh told reporters in Mathura, some 350 km from Lucknow.
“Some of the employees were trapped inside the wholesale market. But with timely assistance from firefighting officials, we managed to rescue the employees,” he added.
Even as the exact amount of financial loss in the fire is yet to be ascertained, Singh said initially it has been pegged at around Rs.50 lakh.
“The exact cause of the fire is yet to established, but preliminary investigations indicate it took place owing to an electric short circuit in one of the establishments of the wholesale market.”