SHILLONG: A devastating fire on Tuesday gutted seven houses completely at Narsing Akhara in Lumdiengjri.
The fire, which broke out at around 12 noon, damaged three more houses partially. No one was injured in the incident.
According to police, the fire originated from the worship room of a house where people had lighted incense sticks. The situation took a turn for the worse after the burst of a LPG cylinder.
East Khasi Hills district police chief M Kharkrang ruled out the possibility of any foul play.
Four fire tenders were pressed into services to douse the fire.
Residents, however, complained that the fire tenders arrived very late even as they said that luckily there was a pond in the locality from where the water was taken to bring the fire under control.
It was also evident that the firemen faced tremendous difficulties due to haphazard construction of houses which restricted the free movement of the fire tenders in the locality.