200 shops burned to ashes at Gold Mark mall

Shopkeepers protest government's apathy to the incident

KARACHI: At least 200 shops were burned to ashes overnight after a fire engulfed Gold Mark Shopping Mall in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase I on Saturday, the market association told The Express Tribune.

The fire started at around 10:30pm on Friday night when the market had closed down for the day, said a shopkeeper and member of the market association, Muhammad Jibran, it spread across the building in a short span of time.

Gold Mark is one of the main attractions for the residents of DHA, Clifton and Korangi and houses 450 shops, not to mention the stalls on the premises, selling jewellery, clothes, cosmetics and others items. The financial losses and the exact cause of the fire have yet to be ascertained. However, the market association's estimate for the loss runs into millions.

Jibran, who is a draper, said the fire, apparently due to short-circuit, broke out at Habib Cloth Centre located on the first floor of the plaza. "A fire brigade was called in immediately but with every splash of water the blaze grew stronger and stronger."

He said that the whole market was affected with the fire and the 200 shops which were on the front side were burnt completely.

According to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, eight fire tenders, two bowsers and one snorkel were dispatched for the rescue operation and it took around eight hours to put the level-III fire out completely.

Inadequate resources

The shopkeepers blamed on the authorities for their inefficiency to deal with such a situation. "The fire fighters did not seem trained nor did they have enough equipment or the resources to deal control the fire," said Jibran.  "Each time they threw in water, the fire intensified."

During the operation, five fire fighters fainted due to the thick smoke that had enveloped the market, he said, adding that they were not wearing gas masks or safety jackets. "This is the reason they could not enter the premises on time and thus the losses multiplied."

A Clifton Cantonment Board employee who was part of the rescue team, also narrated nearly the same tale of inadequate equipment, however, he asserted that the fighters were well-trained.

Shopkeepers protest

The shopkeepers staged a protest demonstration on the main Korangi Road on Saturday in the afternoon halting the traffic for a while. They demanded that the authorities should compensate with them for their losses and improve their firefighting system.

An elderly man, Yusuf Memon, complained that he was at the spot since last night but did not see any elected public representative or a government official visit the scene. He said that more than 1,000 families lost their livelihood in the incident still no one came to condole them.

"At least, they [politicians] could have come for point scoring but they did not," remarked Memon. "Don't they have any responsibility towards people who vote them and pay their salaries via taxes?"

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2016.