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Massive Mandalay market fire destroys 1,500 shops


    YANGON (Reuters) - A huge fire which raged for 13 hours through a big market building in Mandalay, Myanmar's second city, injured 21 people and destroyed more than 1,500 shops, official media and witnesses said on Tuesday.

    Four Buddhist monks and three women were among thoseinjured in the fire which took 78 fire engines and more than4,000 people to put out on Monday, they said.

    Altogether, 1,558 shops, including computer trainingschools, in the four-storey Yadanabon Market Building weredestroyed in a fire started by an electrical fault on theground floor, state-run newspapers said.

    There was also a major fire on Monday on the westernoutskirts of Yangon, the former capital of the military-ruledcountry, which left nearly 3,000 people homeless afterdestroying 200 houses, the newspapers reported.

    They said the fire in Hlaingthayar Township began with akitchen accident.

    (Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Michael Battye)