LAHORE, Oct 18: Valuables worth hundreds of thousands were reduced to ashes after a fire broke out in a house in Canal View Housing Society early on Saturday because of a burning candle.

Muhammad Adil, owner of the house, told Rescue 1122 that he and his family members went to sleep, leaving a candle burning in a room. Valuables were gutted in a similar house fire a few days ago.

The use of candles is on the rise in the city after persistent loadshedding of not less than 10 hours a day.

In another incident, fire in a shoe storehouse near the Lahore Fort destroyed shoes and related material worth Rs100,000.

According to Rescue 1122, short-circuiting caused the fire.

Two more fires were reported: one at the Link Arcade on Model Town Link Road and another at a shop near Mozang Adda on Lytton Road. In both cases, short-circuiting caused the fire, rescuers said. van snatched: Robbers snatched cash and a pick-up van from a man near Chandraiy village in Kot Lakhpat area on Saturday. Police said Noor Vali Khan was coming from Raiwind on his pick-up (LYE-5168) when two robbers took him on gunpoint and snatched Rs3,000 in cash, two cell phones and the four-wheeler and fled.

Two robbers deprived Riasat Ali of Rs1,360 in cash and a cell phone in Shahdara Town.

ACCIDENT: Two people were killed in road mishaps in Shahdara area on Saturday, Edhi sources said. Faqeer Hussain, 35, was run over by a speeding vehicle when he was crossing a road near Saggian Bridge while 70-year-old Anayat Hussain was hit by a speeding motorcycle in Shahdara Town.