ISLAMABAD: Two persons suffered injuries and two others lost consciousness due to a fire which broke out in Giga Mall on Thursday, Rescue 1122 said.

The incident resulted in a loss of Rs37 million, they said, adding that property worth Rs2 billion was fortunately saved.

According to police, the fire started at an international brand’s outlet where labourers were busy in work.

The false ceiling caught fire from a welding gun and spread quickly, they added.

Rescue 1122 staff said that the fire started on the second floor at 3am and they reached the scene shortly after being informed.

Five persons were in need of medical attention, they stated, adding that three of them were shifted to the hospital and two were given treatment on the spot.

Waqar Khalil, 27, and Waqar Shafqat, 29, lost consciousness while Raja Waqas,32, got hurt from a windowpane and firefighter Faizan Murtaza, 27, suffered a deep cut on his hand, they added.

Naeem Khan, 45, was shifted to the hospital due to hypertension, they said adding that it took the firefighters three hours to extinguish the fire and later they searched each shop.

According to police, the mall has its own internal fire extinguishing system which activated immediately and prevented the fire from spreading.

Smoke filled inside the floors of the mall as the glass windows had been closed, police said, adding that some of the windows had to be broken to let smoke out.

The mall will remain closed till Friday for repairs.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2020