Floor on fire: Blaze destroys shops on fourth floor of plaza

ISLAMABAD:

Almost all the shops on the fourth floor of a shopping plaza in Saddar were gutted by a fire on Friday. However, the rest of the building was saved by firefighters. No casualties or injuries were reported except for a salesman who suffered from smoke inhalation. He was provided on the spot first aid by Rescue 1122 officials and allowed to go home.

A leather goods shop on the fourth floor of Brand City Plaza on Bank Road caught fire in the afternoon due to a short circuit, police said. The fire quickly spread across the floor and engulfed neighbouring shops.

Rescue 1122 and the fire brigade reached the spot within minutes. The fire was brought under control after two hours and it took another hour to completely extinguish the fire and cool down the structure of the building.

Rescue officials said a search operation was launched on the gutted floor soon after the fire had been doused. The search party found no dead or injured people. The police and administration officials said they needed to investigate further before they could be certain of the cause of the fire, but preliminary investigations suggest the fire was caused by a short circuit.

Muhammad Waqas, the shop owner, estimated the loss of property at around Rs7 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2012.