KOLKATA: An enormous fire swept through a market in eastern India, gutting more than 3,000 shops and leaving nearly a dozen firefighters injured, a fire official said.

Hundreds of people were moved out of shop buildings as firemen struggled for 13 hours to contain the blaze in the biggest wholesale market in the eastern city of Kolkata.

Huge clouds of smoke billowed from high-rises. “Nearly a dozen firefighters were injured,” deputy director of fire brigade Gopal Bhattacharya said, adding that no deaths had been reported.

Police said the fire had been brought under control and would be fully contained in a few hours. Authorities were investigating the cause.—AFP