Fire destroys scrap market

QUETTA: A massive fire erupted in the scrap market of Quetta on Sunday night, gutting over a 100 shops and five garages.

The fire was triggered by short-circuit, official sources told The Express Tribune.

The residential area located opposite the market has been evacuated, in order to avoid any unnecessary casualties, in view of the a strong possibility that the fire could engulf the nearby area and not be contained to the market.

Five shopkeepers fainted as they tried to save their goods from being consumed by the fire.

Police and Frontier Corps reached the spot and cordoned off the area. The power supply has also been disconnected by the Quetta Electric Supply Company.

“We have called private water tankers to overcome the fire,” shopkeeper Allah Dad Kilji told The Express Tribune. He added that seven fire tenders were not sufficient to control the fire.

“Four cars parked closed to the market were completely destroyed. Three gas cylinders also exploded adding to the fierceness of the fire,” an official said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2010.