Goods worth lakhs of rupees were destroyed in a major fire that broke out in a fibre factory at Bhaduar, 25 km from here. Bhadaur police station SHO (station house officer) Bhupinder Singh said the fire incident took place at around 9 am owing to short-circuit.
Labourers were working in the factory at the time of incident, but there was no casualty and a few people received minor burns.

The SHO said it took around four hours to control the blaze after a series of blasts were reported, owing to inflammable chemicals stacked in containers on the factory premises.

"The entire building was gutted in the fire. Besides assistance from locals and volunteers, two fire tenders managed to douse the fire," he added. The police said labourers jumped from the building to save their life.

Factory owner Amarjit Singh said almost entire material worth lakhs of rupees was completely damaged. "After seeing thick smoke coming out of the factory premises and on hearing the cries of labourers, people living nearby rushed to help and called fire brigade and police," he said.

The police vacated houses near to the factory and shifted the residents to safer places as a precautionary measure.