Gangtok: A massive fire broke out at a highrise along National Highway 10 in Sikkim's Gangtok on Monday, leading to panic in the locality. It is learnt that the fire led to serial explosions of five cylinders though no casualties have been reported yet.
Akshay Sachdeva, DG of Sikkim Police, said the locals noticed smoke and fire from the highrise on Monday morning and informed the police. It is learnt that three fire tenders reached the spot followed by two others to contend the fire.
However, the fire spread quickly as the majority of the highrise was wooden and the serial explosions added fuel to it. People living in the vicinity have been evacuated. Three more fire tenders were called in from Pakyong, Singhtham and Namchi.
It took four hours for the firefighters to douse the inferno. The disaster management team also reached the spot and the joint team recovered two more cylinders from the building. The administration closed NH 10 in the morning.
"Vehicular movements have been suspended on the NH 10 for the time being. It is too early to comment on the cause of the fire. It could be a short circuit. It needs to be investigated from where those five cylinders were procured. There is no causality," Sachdeva said.
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