Kolkata, Jul 2 (IANS): Several crucial documents may have been destroyed in the Lal Bahadur Shastri Common Room of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)- Kharagpur after a fire broke out at this iconic technology institute on Sunday.

Institute sources said the blaze at the common room was noticed by the security personnel at around 3 a.m. when the students, researchers and staff were fast asleep.

Panic soon spread among the residents within the campus as the entire campus got covered by black smoke. However, no casualty or injury has been reported till the time the report was filed.

The local fire service station was contacted immediately. Fire tenders rushed to the spot and the fire was brought under control after rigorous fire- fighting that lasted over a couple of hours.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. However, the fire officials suspect that a short circuit was the reason for the fire.

The source of the fire was a storeroom near the common room. However, questions are being raised about the fire- prevention measures at this iconic technology institute of the country. To recall in March 2021, a similar fire broke out at IIT- Kharagpur. No casualty or loss of property were reported then.