At least 150 shops were burned down when a massive fire engulfed the Itwar Bazaar situated in Islamabad’s Peshawar Mor in H-9 Sector, with rescue workers trying to douse it.
According to rescue sources, the blaze caught the bazaar’s gate number seven at the Srinagar Avenue section leaving several shops damaged and burnt to ashes in the process.
Most of the stalls and shops sold carpets and second-hand clothing for the winter season. However, no causalities have been reported in the incident.
The Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) and the city’s fire brigade department are engaged in extinguishing the fire, while the capital police and district administration were also present at the site of the incident, including the federal capital’s deputy commissioner.
At least 10 fire engines are busy dousing the fire. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has taken notice of the incident. He has directed the city’s deputy commissioner to personally monitor the situation and ensure all resources in putting out the fire.
The minister has sought the incident’s report from the district administration of Islamabad.
According to local media, this was not the first time that this bazaar caught fire. A similar incident has taken place four times in the past leaving shops destroyed and shopkeepers bearing losses of millions of rupees as the business is heavily invested.
All routes going toward the bazaar have been sealed by the police.
Speaking to local media, the deputy commissioner said: “The cause of the fire has not yet been ascertained, no casualty has been reported. The Islamabad and Rawalpindi’s rescue teams are busy in getting the fire under control.”
A spokesperson of the Pakistan Navy said that civil administration is also helping in dousing the blaze, while the navy’s team and two of its fire brigades are also engaged in putting it out.
