MULTAN, Sept 2: Eighty shops were gutted in a fire at Grain Market here on Tuesday morning.

The blaze, believed to be caused by short-circuit, damaged a huge stock of edibles, and the firefighters took five hours to extinguish it. A Rescue 1122 official said they sent a firefighting vehicle to the spot at 3:59am. Later on, 11 fire engines of Rescue 1122, eight of the city district government and one each from Khanewal, Mianchunno, Dunyapur, Lodhran Shujabad, Muzaffargarh and Bahawalpur took part in the operation.

City District Nazim Mian Faisal Mukhtar ordered a probe into the cause of the fire and ascertain the damage. He said the city district government would request the Punjab government to compensate the shopkeepers.

Haji Shahid Alam, a trader leader of Grain Market, claimed that more than 100 shopkeepers were affected, while the estimated loss was Rs800-900 million.