Fire breaks out at Odisha govt's medicine godown in Bhubaneswar: Police

A major fire broke out in the Odisha State Medical Corporations (OSMC) godown at Mancheswar Industrial estate here reducing medicines and medical equipment worth lakhs of rupees to ashes, police said.

However, there was no report of any injury as the fire broke out late on Sunday night. The fire was suspected to have been caused due to electrical short circuit, they said.

Taking to Twitter, the Health and Family Welfare department said: "Accidental fire broke out at Mancheswar MARKFED Godown number 3 at late night on 9th July, 2023. Some OSMCL supplies were stored in this godown (PPE kits, sanitizers and empty cylinders). All goods are under insurance coverage.

"The fire was controlled by prompt action of police and fire services. There were no injuries or casualties."

Seven fire tenders and more than 50 fire personnel were engaged to douse the fire. The fire personnel had to break the wall to get access to the building in order to avoid the fire from spreading to nearby buildings, a fire department official said.

The fire personnel had to fight the entire night to douse the flames.

Apart from thick smoke, a loud blast also rocked our area. The blast was due to empty gas cylinders stored in the godown, an official said, adding that the situation was brought under control this morning.