Bhubaneswar: A woman was burnt to death after her shop caught fire at Pattamundai in Kendrapara district on Sunday. The deceased was identified as Kamala Sahoo, a resident of Baktarpur village. Local residents claimed Kamala had a betel shop at Baktarpur village market where she also sold petrol. Kamala, as per her daily routine, opened the shop on Sunday morning, and was offering Puja by burning incense sticks when the fuel kept in plastic bottles and jerrycan suddenly caught fire. Kamala was trapped in the fire as the flames rapidly engulfed the whole shop within minutes. On being informed, police and fire services personnel reached the spot and doused the fire.

Kamala, who had sustained serious burn injuries, was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared her brought dead. The shop was completely gutted in the fire. Police have started an investigation into the incident by registering an unnatural death case.

In another incident, a major fire broke out at the branch of Punjab National Bank at Durga Bazar in Jagatsinghpur district on Sunday. No casualties have been reported in the fire incident as the bank was closed on Sunday. Some locals noticed heavy smoke belching out of the bank and informed the fire services personnel, who reached the spot immediately. The firefighters completely extinguished the fire within 30 minutes.

Though the exact cause behind the incident is yet to be ascertained, the officials suspect the fire broke out due to a short circuit. The Fire department has launched a probe to find out the actual cause behind the incident. Several important documents, computer systems and electronic equipment have reportedly been damaged in the fire.