ISLAMABAD: A massive fire broke out at Islamabad’s H-9 Weekly Bazaar on Tuesday night, engulfing a large number of stalls.

According to officials, the fire erupted in Block C of the bazaar, which mostly houses shoe stalls, and spread rapidly, prompting a large-scale emergency response.

Rescue teams, including firefighters, police and district administration officials, rushed to the scene shortly after getting the information. The Bazaar, which is known as Itwar Bazaar or Sunday Bazaar, remains operational on Fridays, Tuesdays and Sundays.

Given the intensity of the fire, assistance was also sought from neighbouring Rawalpindi, with additional fire engines and rescue personnel joining the operation.

Preliminary reports suggested that hundreds of stalls have been badly damaged. Assistant Commissioner I-9 was present at the site and supervised the firefighting operation. Efforts to extinguish the blaze were still underway when this report was filed, and the cause of the fire could not immediately be ascertained.

Fires at the H-9 Weekly Bazaar, popularly known as the Sunday Bazaar or Itwar Bazaar, have occurred with alarming frequency over the years, raising recurring concerns over safety standards, electrical wiring and firefighting preparedness.

This is the fifth incident of fire at the weekly bazaar since 2017. Out of the five incidents, three took place on Wednesday while two incidents occurred on Tuesday.

On August 24, 2017, a massive fire broke out in Block C which gutted around 550 stalls of garments, utensils, and nimkos, while 98 other stalls in Block H and a shoe market were also damaged.

On July 19, 2018, about 110 stalls in the E and F blocks were completely destroyed in a massive fire at the bazaar. On October 30, 2019, at least 300 stalls in blocks D, E, and H were gutted.

About 133 stalls were gutted in a blasé that engulfed the weekly bazaar December 7, 2022. Out of total 101 stalls were located in F-Block while the rest in the E-Block.

In the most recent major incident, in July 2024, nearly 700 stalls were gutted after a blaze spread rapidly through the garment section following rainfall. Authorities had at the time suspected an electrical short circuit as the cause of the fire.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2026