A strong smell of wet ash lingered outside Nature’s Basket in Oshiwara on Friday afternoon, hours after a fire gutted the store late on Thursday night. When mid-day visited the site the next morning, long-time employees and regular customers were still coming to terms with the sight of the charred store. “We are yet to assess the damage, but most of the inventory has been burnt,” said the store manager, who had shut the outlet at around 11 pm as usual, only to return two hours later to find it engulfed in flames.

The store employed around 40 people. Staff members who reported for the 7 am shift on Friday were sent to other outlets, while the possibility of returning to their original workplace will depend on whether the store is renovated and reopened.