Kondagaon : Three people were charred to death when a shop in which firecrackers were stored caught fire in makdi village of Kondagaon district ,said police on Tuesday .
According to Kondagaon police, a local grocery shop owner Kashi Sen used to sell firecrackers for which he was granted licence, on the occasion of Diwali. He along with two of his friends, identified as Balram Netam and Shivlal Shrimali, slept inside the shop on Sunday night after it was closed. The accident took place in grocer Kashi Sen’s shop late on Sunday night.
Police said that Sen ran a grocery shop at Bazaar Chowk in the village and also sold firecrackers from there during Diwali festival as he had a license.
Sen sold firecrackers to the villagers on Sunday on Diwali and his two friends – Balram Netam and Shivlal Shrimali – pitched in to help him in managing the crowd at the shop.
The three remained inside the shop after pulling the shutters and the firecrackers stored there caught fire at around 11.30pm, police said.
An official said police rushed to the spot and that the flames were doused with the help of locals.
The flames, however, gutted the entire shop and the three men died on the spot.
A team of experts from a forensic science laboratory visited the site on Monday morning to ascertain the exact cause of the fire.
