Around 80 shops were gutted in a massive fire that broke out at Shillong Market in Meghalaya on Friday.

However, no casualties were reported in the inferno that broke out at around 4 AM. Firefighters swung into action immediately, and doused the blaze after several hours.

According to a vendor at the market complex, goods worth lakhs of rupees have been damaged. Officials of the Fire Department and the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) suspected that a short circuit might have caused the incident.

The Local legislator – Ampareen Lyngdoh rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. The legislator will meet Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma later in the day and discuss the relocation of the affected vendors.