KARACHI: At least 35 shops were reduced to rubble after a fire broke out on Sunday evening at Cooperative Market near Regal Chowk in Karachi’s Saddar area.<\/p>\n
The operation to douse the blaze is currently underway with one fire tender and a team present on the spot. More assistance from all fire stations across the city has been sought.<\/p>\n
Karachi Commissioner Muhammad Iqbal Memon and personnel of various law enforecement agencies arrived on site to monitor the firefighting operation.<\/p>\n
The Karachi commissioner told\u00a0a private news channel<\/i>\u00a0that the inferno has been declared a “third degree fire”.<\/p>\n
He said that there are around 300-400 shops in the market, of which \u201c35 have been completely gutted\u201d.<\/p>\n
When asked about the cause of the fire, he said it would be premature to comment on the matter at this point.<\/p>\n
However, he assured the media of a probe to identify the cause.<\/p>\n
The affected shopkeepers claimed that the fire tenders arrived an hour after the fire broke out and said that major losses could have been averted.<\/p>\n
They said that the fire erupted on the ground floor and spread to the first floor shortly as there was a huge stock of cloth inside the shops there.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the fire department officials said that four fire tenders along with firefighting teams from different fire stations of the city were sent to the spot immediately.<\/p>\n
They said that the fire broke out in one shop and soon engulfed several other shops in the market.<\/p>\n
According to initial reports, people were quickly evacuated from the area and the roads leading to and from Cooperative Market were blocked.<\/p>\n