A fire broke out at a jhela-making factory in Kanchanjungha Tole near Bhanuskul, Phungling Municipality-4 on Tuesday night, causing damage worth lakhs.

A fire broke out in the single-storey pucca house of Mahendra Uparkoti and Kalpana Tolang Sarki on Tuesday night.

The fire broke out due to an electrical short circuit and the equipment of the bag-making factory was burnt, said District Police Taplejung Information Officer Police Inspector Vivek Basnet.

According to Basnet, four bag-making machines worth Rs 300,000, ready-made bags worth Rs 200,000, and equipment and materials used to make bags worth Rs 1.3 million were burnt. He informed that the fire was brought under control by security forces including the local police and army.