A massive fire broke out in a multi-storey shopping mall in Barrackpore, North 24-Parganas, on Tuesday afternoon, leaving three floors of the building gutted.

The fire that engulfed Atindra Mall located on Ghoshpara Road in Lalkuthi, close to Barrackpore railway station, gutted a cafeteria, a restaurant, apparel shops and a multiplex of the building.

The fire reportedly sparked off around 4.15pm. Eight fire tenders were deployed to control the blaze. Firefighters managed to bring the situation under control after battling the flames for nearly two hours.

No casualties or injuries had been reported. According to fire officials, shoppers and moviegoers inside the multiplex were successfully evacuated with the assistance of local residents and mall staff.

Barrackpore Municipality chairperson Uttam Das described the incident as unfortunate but also expressed relief over the successful evacuation of all the people inside the mall.

"It was a devastating fire but at the same time major damage and loss of lives could be averted,” Das said.

Firefighters could not ascertain the cause of the fire immediately.

However, local sources and some mall employees claimed that the fire originated in a cafeteria on the ground floor due to an explosion caused by a defective LPG cylinder. The flames reportedly spread rapidly, triggering an explosion in an adjacent electrical transformer, which led to the fire spreading even wider.

An employee of the complex explained: "The fire broke out from the cafeteria and spread quickly across the ground floor. The transformer explosion escalated the fire.”

Flames raced to an apparel shop, a multi-cuisine restaurant and other stalls, filling the area with spiralling smoke and causing panic among visitors to the mall.

Samita Kundu, a moviegoer who was inside the multiplex when the fire broke, said: "There was a sudden uproar in the theatre, followed by smoke entering the hall. People at the entrance started shouting for evacuation quickly. Luckily, there were only a few people inside the hall, else the panic could have turned life-threatening."

Panic also gripped the residents of nearby areas as the locality includes multi-storey residential complexes and a well-known eye hospital.

Trinamool MLA from Barrackpore, Raj Chakraborty, who rushed to the spot, said the fire was big enough to cause damage to adjacent buildings and could have posed a threat to the lives of many. He credited the timely intervention of firefighters, which prevented a bigger disaster.

"It was a challenging situation, but was brought under control within two hours, even though the commercial complex suffered significant damage," Chakraborty said.

A senior official of the Barrackpore fire station stated: "We have initiated a case in connection with the fire at the mall. The exact cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained as the probe is still on.”