A major fire broke out at the Eco Retreat facility at Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha”s Angul district on Sunday, official sources said. There was no injury or loss of life in the fire incident, the tourism department said in its Twitter post, adding that safety of tourists was paramount and steps will be taken to ensure that no recurrence of such an incident happens in future.

Three tents were burnt to ashes in the fire. Though the reason behind the outbreak of fire was yet to be ascertained, it is suspected that an electrical short circuit might have led to the mishap. By the time, fire services personnel reached the spot, the blaze had already engulfed the tents, an official said.

The Tourism Department said a probe into the matter is being conducted. Steps will be taken to ensure that no recurrence of such an incident happens in future, it said.

Odisha Transport Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda and his wife Santosh Bala, Special Secretary of Home Department, who were staying in one of the cottages at the Eco Retreat camps had a narrow escape early this morning.

“By the grace of God, me and Santosh escaped without any injury as fire broke out in our tent at Satkosia Eco Retreat at about 5 am,” Panda wrote in a social media post.

In a video clip posted by Panda in Twitter, his wife Santosh was heard saying: “It was so inflammable that we thought we will douse it, Sanjeeb and me rushed out of the tent. By the time we went inside, it (fire) was at high intensity. We could not bring anything out. I would have got burnt had I been on the upper side of the tent.”

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