LAHORE, May 30: A fire broke out in renowned bookstore Ferozesons and its attached warehouse on The Mall on Wednesday, burning down books and valuables worth millions.

Rescue 1122 firefighters took at least three hours to extinguish the blaze, which badly damaged the two-storey building.

Motorists faced inconvenience because of rescue work and residents of adjacent houses remained in panic because of the big fire.

Civil Lines SP (Operations) Omer Saeed told Dawn that the fire erupted in Ferozesons’s godown at 12:20pm and quickly spread to other parts of the building. He said apparently short-circuit caused the fire and the staff and customers immediately vacated the building.

Quoting owner Zaheerul Islam, the SP said he suffered a loss up to Rs100 million. The SP said the front of the building was partially affected. He said it appeared that the building was without fire-extinguishing equipment.