HYDERABAD: Sev­eral shops and warehouses were gutted when a fire broke out at Sabzi Mandi and a raged for several hours on Sunday evening.

Fire-fighters could reach the site about one hour after it broke out in a shop, apparently due to an electrical short circuit, and engulfed several adjacent shops and warehouses.

Hyderabad Wholesale Fruit Merchant Com­mission Agents general secretary Shahid Arain said that two shops and three warehouses were destroyed another two were partially damaged in the fire. His claim was endorsed by police and eyewitnesses. He said an estimate of the losses was yet to be undertaken.

It was learnt that the fire broke out at around 7:30pm and was brought under control after two hours of struggle by fire-fighters. The cooling process was continuing till last reports came in late in the evening.

A vast area was hit by thick smoke and heat while owners of other outlets as well as people of the nearby localities remained in panic until the fire was extinguished.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2018