Fire breaks out at the cracker shops in Rajgangpur. Telegraph pictures

Rourkela, Oct. 25: The death toll in the fire accident, which had taken place in a cracker shop at Rajgangpur, rose to three as the last surviving person today died at Ispat General Hospital here.

The mishap has also left five shops, including the one where the fire had broken out, entirely gutted.

Yesterday, a fire accidentally broke out in the cracker shop owned by one Susil Bhalotia, 55, at the main market situated along the main road of Rajgangpur.

The fire broke out around 5.30pm to 6pm last evening. Bhalotia, who was present at his shop at the time of the accident, was rushed to a hospital at Rajgangpur.

Later, he was shifted to Ispat General Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The doctor at Ispat General Hospital, Girija Sahu, who had attended to Bhalotia, said the victim had 100 per cent burn injuries and was brought to the hospital in a bad shape.

The flames, which engulfed other shops in the vicinity, first spread to another shop belonging to one Pradip Agarwal, who is related to Bhalotia.

Agarwal’s shop was just opposite to Bhalotia’s on the other side of road.

As soon as the fire caught Agarwal’s shop, his wife Sunita, 45, who was at that time on the first floor of the building, along with her nephew Aditya, 6, could not come out.

Incidentally, the Agarwals stay on the first floor of the very building.

Later, the charred bodies of Sunita and Aditya could be retrieved after the flames were doused.

The area, where the shop was located, is a thickly populated one with narrow lanes and by-lanes.

Sundargarh superintendent of police R. Prakash, who visited the area late at night, said: “The fire broke out as someone had burst a cracker. Suddenly, the sparks fell on other firecrackers stacked on the ground-floor shop of Bhalotia, who stays on the upper floor. The fire spread within no time and engulfed the nearby shops.”

Brajesh, another shop owner, who runs his establishment some 500 metres from that of Bhalotia, said: “It spread so rapidly that no one got enough time to react to it. Within no time, the entire area was gutted.”

Besides, it took quite sometime for the fire tenders of Odisha Cement Limited to reach the spot as access to the area is dotted by narrow lanes and by-lanes in the locality.

Later, the fire tenders from Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Kansbahal and Kutra could reach the mishap spot. However, by that time, the shops were entirely gutted.

The flames claimed three other shops.

The police superintendent said two cases had been registered. “Investigation is on about the entire incident,” he said.