Two persons inside a pharmaceutical godown, located in the basement of a Sector 26 showroom, sustained burns when a "serious" fire broke out around 11 a.m. The two have been identified as Ram Iqbal and Jang Bahadur. While Iqbal is admitted to PGI, police suspect the other man is still inside the godown. He could not be located due to excess water and smoke that filled up the basement, police said.

The fire broke out in the basement where medicines, chemicals and consumer products were stocked, sources said.

City Chief Fire Officer Darshan Singh said a major blast could have occurred since the godown was situated under a plywood store, sandwitched between a gas agency on one side and the office of a match-company, where matches were stored, on the other.

A worker in Carbo International office, situated on the first floor of the same building, said Ram Iqbal and Jang Bahadur entered the basement around 10.30 am. "At about 11 a.m., there was a loud blast, the metallic shutter was blown off. We quickly came down and there was smoke coming out of the basement," the worker told Newsline.

Another eyewitness, a college student, added: "I was standing about six or seven stores away when I heard a loud blast. I ran to the showroom and saw a man running up the stairs. He was badly burnt, there was only a collar of the shirt left on his body. Even his skin had peeled off. He ran out shouting, `I am saved', and collapsed".

City Superintendent of Police Baldev Singh said that the fire-fighting operation continued till 6 p.m. or so, and a lot of water had collected in the basement. "We feel that the other man may be inside," he added.

In all, 15 fire tenders, including those from the local Fire Brigade, Panchkula, S.A.S. Nagar, Ordnance Cable Factory in Industrial Area and the 3BRD Air Force Station, fought the fire for more than seven hours, officials said. "The total number of errands by the fire tenders to and from the fire stations must have run into nearly 100," Darshan Singh said.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Central) P.S. Gill said the office would be sealed and an inquiry would be conducted to ascertain the cause of the fire.

Meanwhile, in another fire that broke out in a house in Sector 22 after cooking gas leaked and accumulated inside this morning, five persons, including three firemen, received burn injuries.

The fire broke out around 7.30 a.m. and was brought under control immediately because Fire Brigade personnel were present at the spot, family sources said.

"A gas cylinder began leaking in our house, so we called up the Fire Brigade and placed it in the backyard," house-occupant Sanjeev Sharma said. He added that by the time the Fire Brigade personnel reached, the cylinder had leaked considerably. "There was a strong smell of LPG all over. We had already informed neighbours not to light fires. But some passerby on the road lit a cigarette. The gas which had spread to the road caught fire and I saw fire travel like a bullet," Sharma said.

Sanjeev's sister, Usha Sharma, 36, and their father, C.L. Sharma, 69, received first-degree burns. Firemen Lachhman Singh, Amarjit Singh and Manohar Singh also received minor injuries, Fire Brigade sources said.