Container fire on Etah-Aligarh highway destroys over 150 refrigerators

Agra: Over 150 refrigerators and other goods worth several lakhs were destroyed after a moving container truck carrying the items caught fire on the Etah-Aligarh national highway (NH) near Amritpur village under the Sikandrarao Kotwali limits of Hathras in the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.

Police said the container was headed to Bihar from Noida when flames suddenly erupted around 1am. The driver and conductor jumped out of the vehicle and managed to escape unharmed.

Eyewitnesses said that strong winds fueled the flames and engulfed the container, causing a traffic jam and drawing a large crowd. Locals alerted the fire department, following which, fire tenders arrived and battled the flames for nearly two hours. No casualties were reported. Meanwhile, traffic on the highway remained disrupted for an extended period of time.

Fire station officer (FSO), RK Yajpaee, said, "Due to the intensity of the fire, a second brigade had to be called. Once the blaze was under control, the refrigerators were removed from the container, but by then, all of them were reduced to ashes. Preliminary investigation revealed that the blaze was caused by a short circuit in the container's wiring. Further probe is on."