NONGPOH: Atleast 30 stalls were reduced to ashes when a fire broke out at the Umsning Trade Expo 2019 in Ri Bhoi district on Monday.
The incident took place at 1 am when one of the stalls caught fire.
According to sources, the fire damaged goods worth more than Rs 1 crore causing loss to the organisers and the traders.
People who were present on the spot had tried to douse the flames, but the fire, within few minutes, had spread and engulfed other adjoining stalls, sources said.
The Umsning Trade Expo 2019 organised by the
Seng Samla Shnong Umsning Proper A was inaugurated on October 24 with an intention to raise fund for the village.
Vice president of the association, Reuben Lyngdoh expressed concern over the incident which resulted in loss not only to the organisers but also to the traders who have come from Thailand, Bangladesh and other parts of the country as most items and stalls went up in flames. Lyngdoh said the incident could be the handiwork of some miscreants. Headman of Umsning Proper A, Ritstar Khonghat, while condemning the miscreants involved in the incident, said that the delay on the part of the fire and emergency service to reach the spot on time was another reason for the fire to spread.
Following the incident, Khonghat said the government should set up a Fire Service Station at Umsning, as fire incidents had occurred in the past in Umsning town consisting of hundreds of villages. The village Dorbar, Seng Samla Shnong and the affected traders had also filed an FIR at Umsning Police Outpost.
