A dozen shops gutted in fire at Gul Plaza shopping centre

Police speculate short-circuiting of wire led to the blaze

KARACHI: Over a dozen shops were gutted on Sunday in a fire that broke out in one of the city’s busiest shopping centres, Gul Plaza, a day after 200 shops were razed to ashes in another shopping mall.

The fire erupted at 10am on the second floor of Gul Plaza shopping centre, which is located on MA Jinnah Road. Reacting on information, initially two fire tenders approached the site. However, after they failed to control the blaze, 10 more tenders rushed to the site.



The fire broke out on the second floor of the market, which gutted at least a dozen shops of garments, said the fire brigade spokesperson.

However, the firefighters were able to save the remaining shops from being reduced to ashes after an effort of four-and-a-half hours, he added. No loss of life was reported during the incident.

A large number of shopkeepers and owners also reached the site after receiving the news. “I saw news about fire at the market in a news channel,” said Abdul Baki, one of the shop owners whose shop was gutted down.

“I lost everything in the fire. How will I be able to sustain my family now?”

The market’s watchman said that the fire broke out after low-intensity explosions in the market.

The market was closed when the fire broke out, he said, adding that he immediately informed the fire department about the incident.

The fire brigade’s spokesperson said that the electricity wiring was completely burnt and it seems that the fire broke out due to short circuiting of wires. However, the actual cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained.



The police also reached the site after receiving the news. They said that it is likely that the fire broke out due to short-circuit and so far no criminal element has been found behind the incident.

This was the third major fire that erupted at the city’s busiest shopping centres, causing damages of millions of rupees to the traders and shopkeepers.

Earlier on Thursday, a cloth warehouse was gutted when a fire broke out at the warehouse located at the top floor of the Cooperative Market in Saddar. On Saturday, over 200 shops were burned to ashes overnight after a fire engulfed Gold Mark Shopping Mall in Defence Housing Authority Phase I.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2016.