Mangalore, July 25: Six shops at KC Road junction in Talapady area were destroyed due to fire on Friday July 25. The fire started at around 5.30 am and caused a heavy loss of over Rs 75 lakh.
Zam Zam Bakery, Ideal Bakery, NM Point mobile and computers service centre, a vegetable shop, a cloth store and another shop were gutted in the fire.
The accident was noticed in the early morning by Abdul Sattar when he went to the mosque for Namaz. He immediately called Mescom to get the power lines cut, but no one answered his call. The fire service from Pandeshwar was called, but it reportedly arrived late as it had to wait at a railway gate. The fire personnel managed to douse the fire by around 7.30 am.
Short circuit is said to be the cause of the fire. The fire sparked off in one of the shops and quickly spread to the others, sources said.
Zam Zam Bakery incurred a loss of Rs. 50 lakh, as six freezers, food items and other things were destroyed. NM Point is said to have incurred a loss of Rs 15 lakh, while the vegetable shop suffered a loss of around Rs 1 lakh.
Ullal police have registered a case.
The locals who were angry with the fire personnel for arriving late held a flash protest demanding a fire service in Thokkottu limits.
