PRAGUE, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Christmas market near the Czech-Austrian border caught fire on Wednesday, injuring two people and devastating many shopping stalls.

    "The selling area on roughly 1,000 square metres is burning," local media quoted the fire brigade spokesman as saying.

    The incident happened at around 5:00 p.m. local time (1600 GMT)when lots of Austrian customers were shopping in a big stall in the market in the Czech border town of Hate.

    A pyrotechnic detonation in the stall, believed to have taken place out of the vendor's negligence, caused the fire and also an explosion in a car park nearby. The flame soon spread to other cars and numerous shops, local media said.

    All fire brigade teams from the region were called in, with a group of Austrian firemen also joining.