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By Majid Nabi
Srinagar- Property worth crores destroyed, while a few nearby residential houses also suffered damage after the common attic of a multi-storey retail mall caught fire in Dargah Hazratbal market here this morning.
Fire according to official’s fire originated from a popular food outlet, Amigos Foods situated at 2nd floor around 11:45am, destroying the common attic of the mall and causing damage to several residential structures nearby.
Shopping mall, which houses prominent food outlets including that of the Amigo Foods and Hattric Restaurant, is situated opposite the Sir Syed Gate of the University of Kashmir at Dargah Hazratbal.
A senior official of the Fire and Emergency Services (F&ES) told Kashmir Observer that although the cause of fire could not be ascertained, the LPG cylinder explosion afterwards caused severe damage to the attic.
He said the tragic incident, that left property worth crores damaged, took place at the time people are preparing for the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr festival in the valley. He said the fire tenders and firefighters reached the spot as soon as the information about the inferno was received.
Officials said that it took them around two hours to bring the devastating blaze under control, however no loss of life or injury to any individual was reported in the incident.
“Property worth crores was destroyed in the devastating blaze; however no loss of life or injury to anyone was reported. We suspect that it was an electric short circuit. The LPG cylinders kept at the attic of the food outlet caused more damage to the attic afterwards,” he added.
Officials said the fire had apparently originated from 2nd floor of the mall, comprising godowns.
“It took us around two hours to douse off the flames as the fire tenders reacted promptly while fire fighters made uphill efforts to bring the situation under control,” he added.