450 houses, shops gutted in fire in Patna and Munger

Munger/Patna: Over 450 houses and shops were gutted and four persons injured in separate incident of fire in Bihar's Munger and Patna districts today, officials said. A major fire broke out in Bahadur Nagar and Kutlupur villages in Munger district gutting 350 houses, while four perons, including a woman and two minor girls, sustained burn injuries, the District Magistrate Kuldeep Narayan said.

The cause of the fire was not known even as rescue and relief operations have been launched in the affected villages, he said, adding fire tenders from neighbouring Begusarai district were requisitioned to douse the flames. The injured were admitted to a hospital in Begusarai district for treatment, Narayan said adding that the damage due to the fire was being assessed.

Another fire broke out in New Market under Kotwali police station area in the state capital razing 100 shops, mostly those stocking cotton, the District Magistrate D. Sharwan Kumar said. Nine fire tenders and a foam extinguisher were pressed into service to douse the blaze, he said, adding there was no no casualty.