Nearly 42 families were rendered homeless and four persons sustained burn injuries as 85 thatched houses caught fire in Gadarmotia village in Mahakalpada block’s Tikarpanga gram panchayat on Friday.
Properties worth more than `30 lakh were reduced to ashes in the accident, said Mahakalpada Tehsildar Nilamadhab Bhoi.
Bhoi said a thatched house in the village caught fire at around 1.15 am and it spread to other houses within a few minutes. The intensity of the fire was so high that the people could not bring out their utensils and other household valuables.
While the reason was yet to be ascertained, short circuit is suspected to have created the fire.Though the fire brigade from Kujang rushed to the sport, it took three hours to douse the blaze, said the villagers.Bhoi informed that PD DRDA Sadananda Nayak has assured the eligible fire victimsof houses under the Mo Kudia and IAY schemes.