26 houses gutted at Pogiri, six LPG cylinders go off

Short-circuit suspected to be the reason; no casualty reported

The charred remains of the houses at Pogiri village of Rajam mandal in Srikakulam district on Monday.

As many as 26 houses were gutted in a major fire that broke out at Pogiri village near Rajam town of Srikakulam district on Monday. However, no casualty was reported.

According to the police, a power short-circuit in a house is suspected to have caused the fire that spread to the other houses nearby within no time.

“No one was injured in the fire as the residents, all daily wagers, were at work and the children had gone to school at the time of incident,” the police said.

As the fire spread to the houses, six LPG cylinders in different houses went off, leaving the residents in panic. Upon information, fire tenders were rushed to the village and doused the flames.

Property loss

A rough rough estimate has put the property loss at around ₹20 lakh.

Indian Red Cross Society chairman (Srikakulam ) P. Jaganmohana Rao and volunteers distributed utensils and essential commodities worth ₹1.5 lakh among the victims. The victims urged the government to construct new houses for them.

Meanwhile, former Minister Kondru Muralimohan promised to bring the plights of victims to the notice of the government.

‘Submit report’

Collector J. Nivas asked the revenue officials to inspect the spot and assess the damage. SP R.N. Ammi Reddy asked police officials to submit a detailed report on the fire mishap.