Fire guts part of Kolkata's iconic New Market

The fire was first seen at 12:30 pm.

After getting the news, at least 21 fire tenders, police force and the Disaster Management Group rushed to the spot. The fire-fighters fought over 2 hours to bring the flames under control.

The fire swept through the old fish and vegetable market, reports said.

The actual cause of the fire is not known yet. The Mayor of Kolkata Shovan Chatterjee and the Director General of the fire brigade Sanjay Mukherjee went to the spot.

After primary investigation, fire brigade DG, Sanjay Mukherjee told IBNS that the blaze might have started due to a short-circuit.

“I can’t announce the actual reason of fire right now, we will tell it after the investigation ends,” he said.

Mayor of Kolkata Shovan Chatterjee said fire fighters did a great job to bring the fire under control very quickly.

“The fire could have reached the slums nearby. But that did not happen as the fire fighters dealt with the situation very well,” he said.

No casualty was reported in that incident.

On Apr 26 last, a fire had broken out at the Citi Mart departmental shop beside the New Market.

The iconic shopping destination of the city was created by the British and was formally christened 'Sir Stuart Hogg MARKET' on Dec 2, 1903.The name was later shortened to 'Hogg Market'.

The Bengali society of that period called the market as 'Hogg Saheber Bajaar', a name which is still used alongside the name 'New Market'.

Large portion of the original building was gutted by a fire in 1985.

After that incident the complex was rebuilt and a new wing was added to the complex.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha, Image by Sounak Choudhury/IBNS)