625 shops gutted in massive fire at Islamabad weekly bazaar

ISLAMABAD: A massive blaze gutted around 625 shops on Wednesday at the weekly bazaar in Sector H-9 in the federal capital.

The blaze which erupted at around 11 AM was doused after hectic efforts for three hours by a fire-fighting team comprising of 31 fire trucks.

The weekly bazaar – held every Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday – has 2,743 stalls and 625 were destroyed by the fire that started after a heavy spell of rain.

According to media reports, 10 fire trucks reached the site initially but the administration sought help from Rawalpindi and the navy as well, bringing a total of 31 fire tenders to extinguish the blaze.

The report added a fire brigade official said the blaze started in the garments section and spread to crockery and other sections of the market.

He said due to the severity of the issue, the Pakistan Navy, air force and Rawalpindi administration was called in to play their role and use all possible resources to extinguish the fire.

Several shop owners also reached the bazaar and attempted to enter the premises to save their goods but were prevented from entering by the police.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) chief has formed an inquiry committee to probe the incident. The deputy commissioner would preside over the inquiry committee and finalise the report within a week.

CDA Chairman Muhammad Ali Randhawa said 250 rescue officials took part in the operation. He said the fire erupted at 11:18am and a fire tender started the rescue operation.

He said that he requested the police chief to seal the area to avert any further mishap. He said damages would be paid to the affected stallholders.

He said steps would be taken to ensure that such incidents would not be repeated in the future.  He said a fire has erupted a number of times in the bazaar in the past and they will ascertain the reason so that such unfortunate incidents are not repeated in the future.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also took notice and sought a report on the incident from the CDA and ordered a thorough investigation. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the authorities to pay the damages to the affected stall owners.