Six shops gutted in fire at garments market in East Delhi

As many as 22 fire tenders were sent to the spot to douse the flames. It is suspected that fire had been triggered by electric sparks in wires.

Six shops were damaged after a fire broke out in the Gandhinagar garments market in East Delhi on Tuesday morning, said the fire department.

Six shops were damaged after a fire broke out in the Gandhinagar garments market in East Delhi on Tuesday morning, said the fire department. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

As many as 22 fire tenders were sent to the spot to douse the flames. It is suspected that fire had been triggered by electric sparks in wires.

Atul Garg, chief fire officer (Delhi Fire Services), said nobody was injured in the blaze. He said the fire department was informed about the incident at 7.43am. “Initially, 10 fire tenders were sent to the spot, but since it was a high-intensity fire, we sent more engines,” said Garg.

The fire began in one of the garments shops on lane number two of the market. It soon gutted all the four shops in the building before spreading to two neighbouring shops. Property worth lakhs of rupees were destroyed, but since there were few people in the market at that time, there was no casualty, said the fire officer.

East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir tweeted, “Unpleasant news from Gandhi Nagar’s garment hub today where a fire engulfed 4 shops. I am thankful there are no casualties, and my sympathies are with the shop owners who suffered immeasurable losses.”

“I want to thank the prompt response by the Fire Dept. and the @DelhiPolice to curb the fire, which is now under control. I’m personally looking into the matter to avoid such incidences in the future,” Gambhir said.