Sonamura, April 07: At least 5 shops were gutted in a midnight fire incident at Sonamura bazar on Sunday night incurring a loss of around Rs 35 lakh.

The incident took place after the locals of Sonamura bazar first noticed the blaze in a clothing shop of one Safiqul Islam and later within a moment the fire engulfed adjacent shops triggering panic among the traders and other locals in the market.

Alarmed by the incident, three fire engine from Sonamura and Melagarh rushed to the spot and took at least two hours to bring the fire under control. The traders, who incurred loss from the fire incident rushed to the spot and burst into tears.

On Monday morning Sonamura Nagar Panchayat Chairperson Sarada Chakraborty and Vice-Chairperson Shahajan Miah reached the spot and interacted with the affected traders to assure them of assistance.

Although the cause of the fire is yet to be known, but the locals assumed that the fire might have caused either from a short circuit or from the garbage pile behind the shops.