Madina market fire: Nine shops burned

Nine cosmetic and artifical jewellery shops were burned in a fire that started due to an electric short-circuit.

FAISALABAD: Traders of Madina Market on Sitiana Road on Saturday staged a demonstration in protest against outdated electricity infrastructure which they said caused a fire at the market. As many as nine cosmetic and artifical jewellery shops were burned in a fire that started early morning due to an electric short-circuit. The protesters burnt tyres on Sitiana Road,  blocking it for traffic for over an an hour. They also criticised the provincial government, accusing it of discriminating against businesses in Faisalabad. The protesters said traders of Shah Alam market in Lahore had been given compensation by the government following a fire in the market. The traders demanded that the government should announce similar compensation for them as well. Earlier, nine cosmetic and artificial jewellery shops were burned in the fire that started at 5am. The fire had already burned nine of 40 shops in the market by the time Rescue 1122 officials reached the scene.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2012.