LAHORE, Nov 24: Stationery and valuables worth over Rs2 million were reduced to ashes when a godown caught fire at Urdu Bazaar in Anarkali on Thursday. Police said the godown and an adjacent shop owned by Haider Ali caught fire, which spread in minutes as a large number of stationery had been stored there.

Nine fire-fighters rushed to the spot and took more than four hours to put out the blaze. The police and other civic agencies helped the neighbouring residents vacate their houses and shops.

The police said an electric short-circuit caused the fire.