Fire at vegetable and fruit market, labourer killed

A labourer was killed in a fire that broke out at a fruit and vegetable market here today.
Several vegetable and fruit shops were gutted in the fire that broke out in the wee hours today. A dozen fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, police said.
The deceased has been identified as Vikram.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, police said, adding, the fire originated from the backside of the market which got fast spread gutting several shops and causing financial loss to its owners.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has ordered an enquiry into the incident and announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs 2 lakh for the family of the deceased.

The enquiry has been entrusted to Punjab Mandi Board's secretary Deepinder Singh. Directions were also issued to the board for taking preventive measures to check re-occurrence of any such mishap, a government spokesperson said.