Two days after a massive fire engulfed a building in Shillong's Police Bazar area, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma visited the site on Monday to review the entire incident.

The chief minister emphasized how the incident was an eye-opener for the administration to work out Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and conduct drills for such scale of emergencies especially in commercial areas so such kinds of tragic incidents are avoided in the future.

He said, “We will sit down with the team to chalk out a special emergency plan. I thank the team for their efforts and for controlling a situation that could have been much worse.”

Earlier on October 14, one person died of suffocation inside a godown after a massive fire broke out at Thana Road in Police Bazar. The incident occurred at Janata Furniture building. The deceased has been identified as Sampath.

The massive fire was doused with the joint efforts of the fire department, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Assam Rifles, Meghalaya Police and Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills avoiding further loss of life and property.

Taking to X, the chief minister posted, “Inspected the site of the recent fire incident in Thana Road, Police Bazar. The building being a godown and its location in a congested commercial area posed a great challenge for the Emergency Response Team who worked round the clock to douse the fire and ensure adjacent commercial and personal properties were not affected.”

"I sympathise with the families and the business owners affected by this tragic incident," he added.