20160324 Myanmar Fire burns through Mandalay market
Myanmar Mar 24 2016 “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire burns through Mandalay market
Updated: 2016-03-24
[Left]Dozens of firefighters battled to bring under control a blaze at Mandalay’s Mingalar Market, which started at about 5:30pm in a bedding shop on the third floor.
[Right]Plumes of smoke from the market were visible across Mandalay on Tuesday evening, including here, from Tiger One Hotel in Mandalay’s Chan Aye Tharzan Township.
A fire that tore through Mandalay’s Mingalar Market on March 22 has injured several firefighters while gutting hundreds of shops and causing thousands of dollars in damages.
The blaze started around 5:30pm at a bedding store on the downtown market’s third floor. By 5:55pm four fire trucks were dispatched for initial reporting, according to Myanmar Fire Service Department.
Within an hour reinforcements were called to the scene. Dozens of firefighters battled the blaze which had already engulfed the market and threatened a nearby school, hospital and apartment building.
“The fire started when the market was already closed. So it was difficult to extinguish the flames inside. We had to break the doors,” said an official from the Mandalay Region Fire Department.
The fire was put out around 9:45pm. Seven firefighters and a member of the Myanmar Red Cross Society were injured, but are now believed to be recovering.
Several offices and showrooms were destroyed along with 263 textile shops, 28 apartments and 297 of the market’s 550 shops. Most of the first floor of the market was burned.
The cause of the fire has not yet been reported, with the regional fire department citing an ongoing inquiry. Mandalay City Development Committee anticipates the fire caused over K1 billion in damages (US$878,000).
“Some sellers were able to recover items from their shops, but I wasn’t able to save anything,” said Ma Aye Mar, owner of textile shop that burned in the fire.
Mingalar Market was initially started as a private market, but was taken over by MCDC in 1996.
Web Source: Myanmar Times
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/mandalay-upper-myanmar/19615-fire-burns-through-mandalay-market.html