Fire incident: Shoe store in Jinnah Super burnt to ashes

Fire brigade saves adjacent shop from a similar fate.

ISLAMABAD: For the crowd at Jinnah Super Market here, it was difficult to miss the smoke that swirled out of the outlet of an international shoe manufacturer that caught fire on Saturday.

The market, one of the capital’s busiest commercial areas, also experienced a quick evacuation later in the evening.

At around 7:45 pm, a chaotic situation could be seen at the site as people started rushing in the opposite side for safety.

“On top of the huge fire, cars stuck in the traffic jam kept on honking their horns and making the situation more confusing,” said eyewitness Ahadullah, a beggar.



Sitting on a bench facing the burnt shop, a staffer of the outlet explained that the incident was a result of a sheer coincidence. According to him, one of the staff members who went to the store room to get something and smelled the burning wires that were leading to the spotlights installed on the hoardings.

The wires caught a small fire at around 8:00 pm which eventually evolved into huge flames that engulfed the whole shop.

“We tried to save some stock, but saving the lives of the workers was more important,” said the staff member, who added that as soon as the fire started to spread from one storey to the other, the fire brigade was called.

“Before the fire brigade came, we tried to douse the blaze with fire extinguishers, but it was out of control. The fire exit and other avenues had also caught fire,” he said.

A snooker club located on top of the outlet also caught fire but, fortunately, no one was hurt because it was closed at the time. The 45-minute fire managed to damage most of the property.

The shop that was turned to ashes and suffered a loss of Rs8 to Rs9 million, but it is expected to be renovated in a few weeks --- with better wiring.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Shafqat, who is working on the case, said the police team was there all night.

“The cause of the fire is short circuit according to the investigation. We are awaiting further details of the loss from the owners to complete the necessary paperwork for the case,” he said.

Neighbouring shops pulled down their shutters to minimize damage and, according to another eyewitness Shaukat Khan, the adjacent shops would have suffered an equal loss had the fire brigade trucks not arrived on time.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th,2013.