LOWER DIR: About two dozen shops at a market in Chakdara bazaar reduced to ashes when fire broke out in a gas filling shop owing to a cylinder blast here on Thursday.

The residents of the area said that Rescue 1122 firefighters along with fire brigade from Timergara and Batkhela reached the site but the fire could not be extinguished timely.

They said that a gas cylinder at the shop in the centre of the market owned by Khair Mohammad and Sanaullah exploded because of gas leakage due to which the fire broke out.

They said that gas cylinders in the shop exploded with intervals owing to which local volunteers and firefighters could not put out the flames.

Some of the local youth saved valuables in the adjacent shops before the fire engulfed them.

The fire was put out after hectic efforts of more than two hours. Power supply to Chakdara was also disrupted.

Anjuman Tajiran Chakdara president Khwaja Faizul Ghafoor demanded of the government to establish a separate Rescue 1122 centre in Adenzai tehsil.

He said that shopkeepers suffered losses of millions of rupees. He demanded of the authorities to compensate the affected traders.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2023