At least seven shops were destroyed in a fire in Attariya Bazaar in Kailali district on Sunday night.

Khagendra Raj Bhatta, a shopkeeper, sustained burn injuries on his face and arms in the inferno. He was injured while trying to salvage belongings from the shop. Bhatta is receiving treatment at Padma Hospital.

The fire broke out from an electronic shop at around 9pm. It took hours for security personnel and locals to douse the fire with the help of three fire engines. Police suspect that the fire was caused by an electric short circuit.

Fire engines had reached the incident site half an hour after the fire broke out.

SP Madan Bista said police were assessing the damage caused. “As per the information provided by the victims, property worth around Rs 36.8 million

was destroyed in the inferno,” said Bista.

According to police, shops belonging to Bhatta, Samir Sijapati, Narendra Panta, Janak Khadka, Laxmi Air and Bharat Bhandari were destroyed in the fire.