Nearly three dozen shops were burned down on Monday in a fire in the famous Garjiya temple complex in Nainital's Ramnagar, news agency PTI reported on Monday, citing police. There is no report of any loss of life in the incident, they said. The police further stated that the fire broke out at a shop selling 'prasad' as hawkers were preparing for the Navratras starting Tuesday.
Ramnagar Station House Officer (SHO) Arun Kumar said that the flames soon spread to around 35 adjacent shops and reduced them to ashes, as reported by PTI. The shops were made of thatch, and the fire spread quickly, he said. It took local people and fire department personnel hours to douse the flames, he said.
In another incident, three boys drowned while bathing in a pond in a village in Una district on Sunday, PTI reported, citing officials. The incident took place on Sunday afternoon in Raipur Soharan village, according to the state emergency operation centre. The deceased were identified as Pankaj (8), Sonu (11) and Mukesh (11), they said.
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The children had gone to take a bath in a fish pond. When they did not come out for some time, locals jumped into the pond to search for them. The kids were immediately rushed to Una Hospital where doctors declared two of them dead while the third boy died during treatment, police said. Una Police have taken the bodies into custody for conducting post-mortem.