LAHORE, Feb 24: The death toll in the Ichhra blaze rose to three on Thursday. A shopkeeper had died and 11 others sustained injuries when two commercial plazas and an adjacent building caught fire on Wednesday , reducing over 100 shops and small business outlets to ashes.

A burnt body was recovered from rubble, ASP Shaukat Abbas told Dawn, identifying the dead as Baba Inayat, 70, a resident of Sanda. Waqas Ahmad, 27, a resident of Pir Ghazi Road, Ichhra, died in hospital, he added.

"I am sure there are no more bodies left in the debris. We have searched it thoroughly for the whole night. It was a tough task sifting through rubble and comforting those who had lost their everything in the tragedy," Mr Abbas said.

There was no exact figure yet calculated by the shopkeepers, who lost their business in the fire and many of them came up with varying estimates. The shopkeepers were found walking through the debris, which they said were the ashes of their dreams, asking each other how to bring life back to normal.

"It seems to be impossible to recover from the shock we have got," said Muhammad Aslam. Asked how would he be able to provide for his seven-member family, he responded: "I don't know. I can't even think. My mind has stopped working."

Aslam owned a bangle shop in one of the plazas and claimed that he had invested around Rs2 million into the business 10 months ago. "I have been doing this business for a long time, but I had invested a major chunk not more than six months ago."

There should be some calculation of the loss incurred at market level and the government should also compensate the shopkeepers, suggested Muhammad Tahir, who lost a one-million-rupee shoe business. He, together with Muhammad Ejaz, who dealt in leather, were found hoping against hope as they went walking through burnt goods in their shops.

Traders' bodies of the commercial area held Lesco and other authorities concerned responsible for the tragedy. "We have been requesting Lesco to replace the transformer for 13 years," said Qaumi Tajir Ittehad president Chaudhry Muhammad Anis. He added the two transformers, which had caught fire, were overloaded. "All the applications sent by us to take preventive action are on their record."

He claimed the traders' body had asked the authorities to switch over Wasa tube-wells' load to some other transformer to lessen the burden. Whenever a tube-well starts operating it caused a short-circuit and sparks in the transformers; the very thing which happened again just before the fire started, Mr Anis claimed.

He, too, had no exact idea about the loss in monetary terms, but believed it to be in several millions. "It must be around Rs500 million to Rs600 million." Fire tenders continued to work on the site on Thursday to avoid the possibility of getting the ashes ignited.

Officials from other civic agencies helped the shopkeepers collect half-burnt furniture and other goods. A police contingent also remained on duty around the burnt buildings and in nearby markets to deal with an adverse reaction from businessmen.