THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A major disaster was avoided as the fire that destroyed five shops at the transport bus stand in the city's crowded East Fort was extinguished within an hour and a half. It was the efforts of ten fire force units in Chengalchoolaand Chacka that prevented the fire from spreading to other places. There are no casualties.

The fire broke out at noon yesterday. The fire force units were able to prevent fire from spreading to the bus stand. Hundreds of people were waiting for the bus at that time. Five shops were burnt and there was a loss of Rs 30 lakhs.

Shops at the KSRTC North Bus Stand near the fort in front of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, a high-security zone, were gutted. The fire broke out after a gas cylinder exploded in a tea stall named Chocolate owned by Razi adjacent to the fort. The fire also spread to Razi's bakery and fresh juice stall, Cellphone shop owned by Pazhanchira native Mahin, Mobile Junction owned by Ambalathara native Naufal, and HS lottery shop owned by Alif. The goods in the shops were completely burnt.

A huge disaster was avoided as the employees of the shops and those who came to buy the goods rushed out after hearing the sound of the explosion and the fire. Fire force units brought the fire under control and prevented it from spreading elsewhere. The Fire Force, Electrical Inspectorate and Police have started separate investigations into the incident.

Every item in the tea stall was gutted. Razi, the shop owner, 8 employees and people who came to drink tea escaped from the fire by a whisker. The fire quickly spread to the juice shop and lottery shop on both sides of the tea stall. There is a loss of around eight lakh rupees in the lottery shop. The juice mixer and fridge were destroyed in the juice shop. The mobile shop called Mobile Junction was not open in the morning as owner Naufal had gone to the hospital with his wife. He heard about the fire when he came to open the shop in the afternoon.