LUDHIANA: Over 85 people were killed when a devastating fire late Sunday swept through a busy market here Oct.20.

The fire, caused around midnight by a firecracker, also destroyed 40 shops and damaged property worth over R.s 10 million. Forty bodies have been recovered from the debris and of them 63 have been identified. Most of the bodies were badly charred and difficult to identify.

Authorities have banned the sale of fire-crackers in the city for about a fortnight.

Article extracted from this publication >> October 25, 1991