Blaze engulfs over 100 shops
Hundreds of vehicles destroyed
Tribune News Service

AMRITSAR, Nov 6 — In the worst-ever fire tragedy here more than 100 shops were gutted in the IDH market this evening where firecrackers were being sold openly despite a ban by the District Magistrate. Hundreds of vehicles were also gutted in the fire.

According to preliminary reports, the damage is in crores.

District Magistrate Narinderjit Singh has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the fire. The loss of life is not yet known. However, eyewitnesses apprehend that the loss is colossal.

Talking to TNS the District Magistrate said Ms Gurpreet Sapra, SDM, had been deputed as inquiry officer.

Though the fire broke out at about 6.15 p.m., yet fire-tenders reached the spot after a long time. As many as seven five tenders were pressed into service.

While shopkeepers of IDH market ran away for safety without downing their shutters, the shopkeepers of the adjoining market near the bus stand and the Suraj-Chanda-Tara theatre immediately closed their shops.

Most of the shops had been removed about 15 years ago from the surrounding areas of the Golden Temple and the shop owners had been rehabilitated by constructing new markets in the open areas.

While some people claim that the fire occurred due to a short-circuit, senior officials of the district administration are tight-lipped about the reasons.

The fire-tenders faced a lot of inconvenience in putting out the fire due to power failure. The people, who had assembled in hundreds, also caused inconvenience in the way of extinguishing the fire. The police had to stop the people from going near the market.

Mr Jugal Kishore Sharma, President, District Congress Committee has alleged that the tragedy occurred due to the non-implementation of the ban orders. Most of the residents said the ban orders on the sale of crackers were issued as a routine matter and as such the orders were hardly implemented in toto.

Add UNI adds from Jalandhar: Three shops were damaged in a fire caused by a fire cracker in the cantonment here on Saturday, eyewitnesses said.

They said a stray fire cracker fell from a housetop and hit a stall selling cracker on 5 Hardyal Road, leading to a series of explosions.

A cantonment board water tanker, which happened to pass by, helped in controlling the blaze which was extinguished in about half an hour with the help of a fire-tender and people who mobilised local help in containing the fire.

84 shops gutted in Karnal, Sonepat
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Nov 6 — At least 24 shops were gutted in a fire which broke out in Ashok Nagar locality here this evening. Nearly 50 persons, including women and children shopping there were reportedly trapped in the fire-hit shops, and efforts are on to save them.

The entire area was enveloped in smoke reducing visibility hampering relief and rescue work by neighbourhood people, members of the fire-brigade of the local Municipal Council.

Many people also received burns while they were being pulled out from the shops. Two of them were immediately hospitalised.

Short circuit in a shop was the cause of fire which spread to the nearby shops in which crackers and explosives were kept.

On receipt of information, two Municipal fire-engines arrived on the spot to control the fire but faced water shortage. Thereupon, at least 10 water tankers of the Diwan Trust were summoned and these reached the site. Still the fire was not brought under control.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sudhir Rajpal, SSP K.P. Singh and other officials reached the spot to supervise fire control.

Details of the fire are awaited as the entire area has been sealed and no one is allowed to enter it. All shopkeepers kept shutters down and assisted authorities in bringing the fire under control.

Our Karnal reporter adds: Sixty cracker shops were destroyed in a major fire which broke out in the HUDA grounds here on the night of Saturday.

According to Mr Sunny, an eyewitness, the fire started from shop No. five in the cracker market. Later it engulfed shop number 11. With in minutes the fire spread to entire cracker market. Shopkeepers and customers ran helter-skelter leaving behind their cycles, scooters, a tractor-trailer and a Maruti car.

There was no causality as the ground was open from all sides.

Shopkeepers maintained that the total lose was over Rs 1 crore. They complained that the HUDA authorities who had charged between Rs 2500 and 3000 had taken little safety measures. Even the fire brigade reached late. One fire brigade vehicle reached the fire site about one hour after the fire had broken out. The Deputy Commissioner and the SP had reached the site to supervise the rescue operation.