50 houses, 13 shops gutted in fire

Bhubaneswar: As many as fifty houses and 13 shops were gutted in fire in separate incidents on Thursday.

Sources said, the fire which broke out in Badakhinga village near Paralakhemundi of Gajapati district destroyed 27 houses. Before fire tenders could reach the spot to douse the fire, belongings of all the houses were turned to ashes.

Sources added, a short circuit in a nearby electricity transformer led to the fire.

Similarly, at least 20 houses and 13 shops were reduced to ashes in a late night fire in Jajpur district on Wednesday. The shops in Jhumpuri Bazar under Dasarathpur block of the district were completely destroyed in the devastating fire. Though no of life has been reported, sources said properties worth lakhs of rupees have been destroyed.

No properties could be saved when fire caught the houses of Ragadisahi under Sukinda block of district.