Fire breaks out at Assam secretariat

Guwahati: A fire broke out at the Assam Secretariat ‘Janata Bhawan’ here today but no loss of life or injury to any person was reported, secretariat sources said.

The blaze broke out in two rooms of the ‘F’ block, where the Finance department is housed, at around 12.30 pm when Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was chairing a cabinet meeting in the adjacent CM’s Block, they said.

Stating that files and furniture kept in the two rooms were completely burnt, the sources said that it was not immediately known which documents were destroyed in the fire.

The fire caused a panic situation on the secretariat premises, but the employees returned to their work in various departments after it was doused, they said, adding that there was no loss of life or injury to any person and people were safely evacuated.

Fire service sources said that five fire tenders were pressed into service to bring the blaze under control.

Though the cause of the fire was not immediately known but it is suspected it might have cused due to short circuit, they said.

—PTI