PESHAWAR: Over 300 garments, cosmetics and crockery shops were gutted after a fire erupted in a market in Nowshera district on Saturday night, residents said.

They said traders suffered losses worth millions of rupees and that the fire was controlled early in the morning.

President of the market, Ghazi Rehman, said it was the third time a fire had ripped through the market, adding that losses this time were higher than in past incidents.

He said that they had long been demanding a fire tender, but to no avail. “Who should we seek assistance from?” he said, adding that the traders who had lost their goods in the past incidents were yet to be compensated.

Mr Rehman demanded an inquiry into the fire, saying the blaze erupted from all sides of the market simultaneously.

He added that there was no light when the fire broke out.

“We don’t understand how the fire began from all four sides at the same time, and that too, in the absence of power supply,” he said, adding that over 300 shops were gutted. He said traders suffered a cumulative loss of Rs8 million.

He stated that road blockades caused the delay in putting out the fire.

A shopkeeper, Rehman Hussain, said that he suffered a loss of Rs2.5 million. He said the market contractors collected rent in advance, but failed to arrange for the fire tenders. He urged the provincial government to provide for fire tenders.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2026