On Tuesday evening, a major fire broke out at a building situated inside the Mata Vaishno Devi temple complex in Katra, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district. The fire is believed to be the result of an electrical short circuit that broke out around 4.15 pm inside a cash counting room in Kalika Bhavan. The building with the cash counter is adjacent to the sanctum sanctorum. Before being brought under control at around 5 pm, the fire kept burning for about 45 minutes. No deaths have been reported so far.

The building has suffered significant damage. Visuals which came out after the fire was put out showed that it had been completely burned down. Officials stated that some cash and documents were destroyed.

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Shailender Singh, the Senior Superintendent of Police for Reasi district stated, “We got a call around 4.30 pm. Initial reports suggest the fire broke out due to electric (short)circuit.” He further added, “SHO (Station House Officer) Reasi rescued people who trapped inside the fire. Some suffered minor injuries and are getting medical attention.”

SSP Singh said that the CEO of the Vaishno Devi Shrine board had reached the spot and was assessing the damages. Singh added, “We will know what caused the fire after further investigation.”

Initial alarm had been sounded by CRPF personnel stationed there. Visuals from earlier in the day were posted on Twitter. They showed a huge plume of black smoke pouring out of the top floor of a building.

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Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh said that he had spoken to the district officials and been told that the situation was being resolved. He tweeted about his interaction with the local officials on the situation.

Spoke to DC #Reasi, S. Charandeep Singh just now and inquired about the fire that broke out near the #VaishnoDevi shrine some time back. Thankfully, everything brought under control. No major loss reported. However, keeping a close track for the next few hours.

— Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) June 8, 2021