Nagpur: Panic gripped Golibar Square in Nagpur on Saturday morning after a fire at Friends Biryani Fry Corner triggered a cylinder blast, leading to chaos in the area. The incident occurred on the ground floor of a two-storey building and caused significant property damage.

According to sources, the eatery had three LPG cylinders stored on the premises. One of the cylinders exploded during the fire, while firefighters managed to safely remove the remaining two cylinders in time. Officials said the situation could have turned catastrophic if all three cylinders had exploded, as the blaze might have engulfed the entire building.

Material worth nearly Rs 4 lakh was destroyed in the fire. The damaged items included a deep freezer, grocery supplies, and other stock kept inside the shop.

Sources said the fire department received an emergency call at around 8:21 am. Following the alert, two fire tenders from the Ganjipeth Fire Station rushed to the spot.

After a prolonged firefighting operation, firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control and prevented it from spreading to nearby structures. Their timely intervention averted a major disaster in the densely populated area.

The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, and further investigation is underway.