Over 80 shops gutted in mobile market blaze

No loss of life reported; narrow lanes, panicked shopkeepers hinder firefighting operation

KARACHI:

Small traders and vendors of Saddar mobile market were devastated as an inferno ravaged through the narrow lanes of the bazaar in the early hours of Tuesday turning to ashes more than 80 shops destroying inventory worth millions of rupees.

No loss of life was reported in the fire that raged through Shah Jahan Market and Star Mobile Market located on Abdullah Haroon Road in Saddar area in the early hours of Tuesday.

It took fire officers more than five hours to douse the flames raging in the catacomb of lanes of market housing small shops and kiosks.

According to a fire officer, they faced difficulties in extinguishing the fire due to the narrow lanes of the market and the behaviour of the shopkeepers.

To rub salt on burns, looters descended on the bazaar haukling away everything they could grab.

Electronics Market Association President Rizwan Irfan said that the fire brigade staff did a timely and very good job, but due to lack of water and masks and other equipment used in fire fighting, it took time to extinguish the fire and they faced difficulties.

Initially, two fire tenders reached the spot on the report of the fire and the crew started extinguishing the fire. However, more firefighters were called to the spot considering the severity of the fire.

The fire brigade staff brought the fire under control after more than five hours of struggle, after which the cooling process continued for another two hours. Police, Rangers, Chippa and Edhi volunteers also reached the spot on receiving the information about the fire.

Irfan said the affected markets have 470 shops on the ground floors and more than 800 shops on the first and second floors combined.

He maintained that shops sell mobile phone, tablet parts, and accessories in wholesale and retail. He told that the shopkeepers also have warehouses on the second floor.

Irfan said though fire brigade arrived on time, they had no masks or lights to reach the first and second floors in time due to thick smoke.

He said that the fire brigade staff also faced shortage of water due to which the work of extinguishing the fire did not continue constantly. A pause in the fire fighting process reignited the flames. Irfan said that the shopkeepers reached the market on the report of the fire and tried to salvage whatever they could from the shops.

Looters raid in dark

Meanwhile, robbers looted two cars loaded with mobile phone accessories near Gurmandir. Traders were taking home the goods they had salvaged from the burnt market, when robbers took everything away at gunpoint.

A swarm of looters descended on the burnt markets and hauled away everything they could grab. Police say that it was hard to identify who was shopkeeper salvaging his goods and who was looter.

Traders told The Express Tribune that they had fire extinguishers installed throughout the market, but the fire broke out when the market was closed due to which there was no one to use these devices.

According to the fire officer present at the spot, the locks of the shops had to be cut to extinguish the fire as the fire was burning inside the closed shops.

He said that every shopkeeper wanted that the fire in his shop should be extinguished first for which they not only misbehaved with the fire fighters but also assaulted them.

Regarding Irfan's comment that firefighters had no masks and there was shortage of water, the fire officer said, masks and all other such equipment are present in every fire brigade vehicle and there was no shortage of water. Rather, the work continued to be obstructed due to panicked shopkeepers.

Regarding the fire, he said that overall, the fire was brought under control with the help of 10 fire tenders, two bowsers and four water tankers. He said that according to preliminary information, 80 to 100 shops and their goods were burnt to ashes in which goods worth millions of rupees were burnt.

He said that per initial reports faulty wiring caused the inferno. Fire spread from the first floor up to other floor through electrical wires. If the wires had been properly installed, the fire might not have reached the top. There was no loss of life as a result of the fire.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2023.