Blaze: Two injured, merchandise worth millions destroyed in fires

Items worth over 6 million destroyed in two fires.

RAWALPINDI:

Three people were injured and goods worth millions of rupees were burnt to ashes in hotel and godown fires in city and cantonment areas on Tuesday, rescue and police sources told The Express Tribune.

According to Rescue 1122 officials, the fires erupted due to short-circuiting of electricity. Rescue 1122 spokesman said the fires were extinguished after seven hours of hectic efforts.

In the first incident, a fire broke out in the basement of ceramic shops in Shamsabad on main Benazir Bhutto Road, formerly Murree Road. The smoke engulfed the surrounding buildings, including a hotel. A woman and her daughter, identified as Ayesha and Fatima, who were staying in a room of the hotel fell unconscious.

They were rescued by the Rescue 1122 officials and shifted to a hospital after providing first aid. They were discharged after providing treatment.

According to an estimate the fire destroyed merchandise in the shops worth over Rs1.3 million. Another fire broke out in a foam godown in Koila Centre in Saddar at around 10am. It took rescue officials around three and a half hours to put out the fire. The fire destroyed foams worth Rs5 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2012.