No fire engine: Inferno guts 40 shops in Allai town

BATTAGRAM:

People saw their shops, businesses, and lifesavings turn to ashes in the main bazaar of a town that has no fire fighting facility.

An inferno completely gutted at least 40 shops including two hotels in Karak Bazaar of Allai Tehsil on Wednesday. Luckily, there was no loss of life. Property damage could be in millions of rupees, a shop owner said.

Allai police quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the cooks of Abasin Hotel Karak Bazaar were busy making food for their customers on firewood when one of the cooks poured kerosene on the ambers and suddenly a great ball of fire hit the ceiling setting it ablaze. Soon the flames engulfed the entire building and the inferno spread to the adjoining shops.

The shopkeepers and hotel clients formed a human chain throwing buckets of water. But since there was no fire fighting facilities available in the town, all the 40 shops were soon reduced to ashes.

According to police the gutted shops included ten grocery shops, two hotels, hair cutting saloons, vegetable and fruit shops, garments, hosiery and shoe stores.

According to Asadullah, one of the shop owners, the property loss was estimated to be in millions. The affected shop keepers criticised the elected leadership for not providing fire engines to the Allai town municipal authority.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2012.