Fire in Uttar Pradesh store, no casualty

LUCKNOW - A massive fire broke out in a state-owned coal tar store in Etawah in Uttar Pradesh Tuesday, destroying goods and machinery worth lakhs of rupees, police said. No casualty was reported in the incident.

The fire engulfed the coal tar store of the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) in Civil Lines area, following which seven fire tenders were pressed into service.

“The fire broke out, the store went up in the flames owing to the presence of inflammable material and chemicals inside the store. The store housed several drums filled with coal tar and machinery used for construction of roads,” police inspector Puneet Parihar told reporters in Etawah, some 200 km from Lucknow.

“A few employees were present inside the store at the time of the incident. They were rescued because of the timely intervention of fire-fighting officials. It took over three hours for the firefighters to control the situation,” he added.

According to police, the initial financial loss in the fire is being pegged at around Rs.50 lakh.

“The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. A joint enquiry is being carried out along with the fire department officials in this regard,” Parihar said.