Kolkata, Dec 31 (IANS): In an early morning fire at Newtown area in the outskirts of Kolkata on Saturday, as many as 12 shops were completely gutted. However, no casualty has been reported as because of the wee hours, no one was inside the shops at the time of the incident.

According to officials of the fire services department, the fire broke out around 4.30 a.m. near the Mridha canal in Newtown area. The source of the fire was LPG cylinders in one of the food-vending shops in the area. The presence of inflammable items in these shops aided the fire to spread fast.

Five fire tenders immediately rushed to the spot and doused the fire within hours.

There was panic among the residents of the locality because of the sound of bursting of the LPG cylinder. As a precautionary measure electricity connection has been disconnected in the entire locality for the time being.

"The exact reason for the fire is yet to be determined. But probably it happened because of the short- circuit in one of the food-vending shops where LPG cylinders were stocked. Our initial target was to restrict the fire from spreading to the adjacent areas and we had been able to do that. The fire is totally under control now and there has been no report of any human casualty," said a fire department official at the spot.