NT Reporter
Vasco
A massive fire broke out at the Vasco Sunday Market, located behind the Mormugao Municipal Council building, around 11.10 pm on Wednesday, sending flames soaring into the sky and a huge plume of smoke billowing over the area.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, South Goa Collector Egna Cleetus, local MLAs and other officials were on site.
Shops at the market, which falls under the municipality, are thickly clustered and were seen engulfed in flames.
The hundreds of small shops in the market sell a range of items from clothes, bags and utensils to shoes among other goods. Distressed shopkeepers said that collective stocks would be worth crores of rupees.
The Chief Minister said he has asked the authorities to ascertain the cause of the fire. Stating that many small shopkeepers have suffered huge losses, he said his government would see how best to compensate them.
Fire tenders from Vasco and other places were rushed to the site as vendors gathered in panic, witnessing the intensity of the blaze. At the time of going to press, firefighters were working to bring the situation under control and prevent extensive damage to the market.
In a separate incident, about an hour earlier, a car accessories shop behind Tilak Maidan in Vasco was gutted in a fire, while two vehicles were also damaged. The site is around 1 km from the Sunday market. A short circuit is suspected to have caused the fire, but the cause is yet to be ascertained. A fire tender was at the spot attempting to bring the blaze under control.
