Fire at Karol Bagh shoe market, 39 fire tenders rushed

A huge fire broke out at many shops in a shoe market in central Delhi's Karol Bagh area early Sunday morning, which was doused in around five hours, a senior fire service official said.

The blaze was extinguished around 9 am while the cooling operations continued, he said.

''A serious fire call was received from a shoe market in Gaffar, Karol Bagh, at 4.16 am and 39 fire tenders were rushed to the site,'' Delhi Fire Service (DFS) Director Atul Garg said.

Nobody was trapped or received any injuries, he said, adding the cause of the fire is not known yet.

The Director of DFS said none of the shops which caught fire had a No Objection Certificate from the fire department.

The fire department said buildings in the shoe market usually have their shops on the ground floors while the owners either store, repair, or sell in their godowns which are upstairs.

Elaborating on the challenges faced by the firefighters during the operation, Garg said the area where the fire incident took place was a narrow congested lane.

''Lots of hanging wires were present at the market area which is dangerous and causes inconvenience too. There was a shortage of water resources used for dousing fires. The construction of the building is weak, so the structures have already developed cracks,'' he added.