TAXILA, Dec 5: A deep sense of despair was writ large on the faces of over 350 small shopkeepers devastated by the massive fire that erupted at the Lunda Bazaar on Thursday evening turning all their business items including cloths, garments, crockery and other trade goods into ashes.

“My whole business has ruined and now I do not have any source to earn bread and butter for my family,” said a shopkeeper Ahmed Khan. He said the small shop was the only source of earning and now he had no money to reestablish the kiosk and procure goods for sale. Just in few moments I had lost every thing and now I did not have a single penny in my pocket, he said with tears pouring out of his eyes.

Another shopkeeper Talib said that he run a garments shop in a kiosk near Bismillah market on Shah Johlan road. He said that when the kiosks caught fire, he was in the shop but the area was so rapidly engulfed in flames that he could not save any thing except himself and some cash. He said that fire had burnt all his investment.

Another shopkeeper Nizamat Din criticized the apathy of the government as well as politician. He said that if the rescue came on time, the loss could have been minimised.

Another shopkeeper Saeed said that the loss was not restricted to shopkeepers only, but people from middle and poor class also deprived of low-priced garments, shoes and other house-hold items. He said that the fire has rendered over five hundred people jobless and hundreds of families deprived of livelihood.

Moreover, the Tehsil Municipal Administration and Police after preliminary probe ruled out the possibility of terrorism. They confirmed that the fire was broke out due to short circuit in a kiosk which spread to other kiosks like jungle fire as most of the kiosks were of the second hand garments and cloths.

The situation was brought under control when the fire tenders of Pakistan Ordnance Factories, Air Weapons Complex, District Government, Attock, Rescue 1122 and other departments with more trained and well equipped staff reached the spot and assisted the lone fire engine of TMA Hassanabdal.

Talking to newsmen, District Nazim Attock Major (retd) Tahir Sadiq has said that the district government would send summary to the Punjab government for grant of compensation to those shopkeepers whose shops were gutted due to accidental fire on Thursday evening. He said that the poor shopkeepers would not be left in the lurch.