Bengal's Malda market fire: Forensic team visits site, collects sample

A forensic team on Wednesday visited the market complex in West Bengal's Malda district, where a fire at a carbide godown caused the death of two labourers a day before, police said.

One person, who owns a firecracker shop at Netaji commercial market in the district headquarters, was arrested, he said. The four-member forensic team collected samples from the site where the fire occurred, he said.

Two persons were charred to death in the blaze that gutted several shops in Malda town on Tuesday.

''One Amarnath Saha, owner of a firecracker shop where carbide was also traded, was arrested,'' the officer said.

The fire broke out in a shop at the market when labourers were unloading containers of carbide.

Carbide is widely used in catalysing early ripening of fruits, including mangoes, which are grown in large quantities in numerous orchards in Malda district.

West Bengal Minister of State for North Bengal Development, Sabina Yeasmin, visited the market and spoke to the local people.

The two deceased persons - Ganesh Karmakar (48) and Raju Rishi (48), were labourers engaged in unloading containers in one of the shops at the market.

Around nine to ten shops, including grocery, jewellery and carbide shops were severely damaged in the blaze.