A portion of the famous Madina building was damaged when a major fire broke out triggering panic among shopkeepers and festival shoppers on Monday. While none was injured, goods in two shops were gutted along with interiors, furniture and electrical appliances in Madina Hotel.
Flames erupted in an ‘All-in-One' shop selling police dress material and soon spread to New Madina travelling goods shop and the Madina Hotel. Though the fire control room received a call around 11.40 a.m., fire tenders could not reach in time due to traffic gridlocks all along.
A vehicle from the nearest fire station at Moghalpura too failed to reach the spot as hundreds of vendors' encroached the Charminar - Madina road selling different kinds of wares.
Fire tenders later came from Miralam Mandi, Salar Jung Museum, travelled via Mohammadi Caps store near Afzalgunj and reached the spot after 20 minutes.
Firemen blamed
Tension prevailed for a while as shopkeepers began to quarrel with the firemen for the ‘delay' with some even showering abuses on them. “Why are shopkeepers blaming us? The delay was due to traffic jam on the road connecting Madina centre,” said Moghalpura Fire Station Officer Mohammed Sharif.
After pacifying the traders, the fire-fighting operation was carried out with four fire tenders.
Firemen took all measures to prevent flames from spreading to other shops and doused the flames within an hour.
Short circuit
Mr. Sharif stated that short circuit had led to the fire and the extent of property loss was yet to be ascertained.
Traffic was disrupted for more than an hour following sudden influx of people from nearby localities to the site. Police struggled to control them and had to use mild force to disperse them.
