Arunachal market fire destroys 700 shops

Local authorities have set up a relief camp at a school

More than 700 shops were destroyed in a fire at a major market in Arunachal Pradesh’s Naharlagun town early Tuesday morning.

Nagarlagun and Itanagar, about 13 km apart, form the twin capitals of the State.

Likha Radh, the Extra Assistant Commissioner of the town said the fire broke out at the Naharlagun Daily Market around 4:30 a.m. Nobody died or was injured in the incident.

“The fire could not be controlled in time due to the non-availability of water filling stations at Naharlagun. The fire tenders had to move to an iron factory out of town for filling water,” he said.

Firefighters and personnel of emergency services controlled the inferno but not before much of the damage had been done, officials said.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

A local police official said a relief camp has been set up at a government-run higher secondary school in the area for people who either lived in the shops or in sheds adjoining them.