2019-04-23 Blaze at Crawford Market leaves business paralysed
India Apr 23 2019 “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Blaze at Crawford Market leaves business paralysed
Updated: 2019–04–23
A huge fire took place at Abdul Regman Street, one of the busiest lanes in Crawford Marktet, yesterday morning. The buzz at the market, known as a party shoppers’ paradise for its knick-knacks, goodie bags and toys and also a haunt for office stationery, came to a grinding halt owing to the incident.
‘I saw a ball of flames fall and it was scary’
The fire started at around 10.50 am and four fire engines were rushed to the spot to try and douse it. Rohit Yadav, a keychain manufacturer, who has a shop right opposite where the fire took place, is shaken. He says, “It was bad; I saw a kind of ball of fire falling down from one of the shops and it was scary. We could not move as people were running.” Adds Anish Gada, pen manufacturer who works in the same lane, “There was so much panic, we could see a lot of smoke and it was tough to breathe.” But luckily, the fire, graded at level 2, saw no casualties.
Speaking to BT, leading fireman Uday Jagannath Surve of Memon Wada fire station, who was at the spot, said, “There are no casualties reported. Cooling is on and we have to investigate to see what caused the fire. Being a crowded lane, we also had to cordon it off to the crowd.”
Collateral damage? Daily income
With the area having a slew of streetside shops and stalls, the first thing that gets affected following such an incident, are the footfalls. Says Muhamad Danish of a stationery and cutlery store in the lane, “This is actually the second fire in the same premises in two months. The problem is, such buildings are not taken care of and it is dangerous. We have downed shutters — ek hi vajeh sey sab ki dukan bandh ki gayi hai. It is for safety, but it is a waste of a day and we lose our income. Anyway, the market has been slow for a while and now, this will take things back even more.” Adds another toy seller, “Our profit is hardly anything. With this fire, I have lost the day’s earnings.”
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