Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Mar 23: Several houses were damaged in a fire at Dhoomappa compound in Pandeshwar here on the night of Saturday March 23.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

It is learnt that some students were staying at one of the houses as paying guests. They had gone out for the evening, and when they returned, they saw flames emanating from the compound.

The fire erupted at one of the houses and quickly spread to other houses.

Out of 11 houses in the compound, four were completely damaged and the rest were damaged to various degrees.

The houses belonged to Ashok Acharya, Karthikeyan, Ashok, Shekar Acharya, Bhagyashree and K R Shrinivas. No casualty was reported.

Four fire engines rushed to the spot. As the approach road is narrow, they had some difficulty in reaching the houses. Locals helped the fire personnel in dousing the flames. An eyewitness said that a food deliveryman who came to the area heard screams and rushed to their help.

MLA Vedavyas Kamath visited the spot and took stock of the situation.