3 restaurants, 2 shops, flats gutted in fire in Shaheen Bagh, no casualties

Three restaurants, two shops and flats were gutted in a fire that broke out in southeast Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area on Saturday, officials said.

The officials of Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said no casualties were reported in the incident.

The officials said they received a call at 5.44 PM reporting that a fire broke out in electric wires outside a restaurant in Shaheen Bagh's 40 Foota Road.

Shaheen Bagh Resident Welfare Association member, Riyaz said they immediately informed the local police soon after a restaurant caught fire.

By the time, fire fighting engines reached the spot, it had spread to the restaurant, they said. Around 18 fire tenders were pressed into service and took one and a half hours to control the blaze.

Riyaz further told the media, "The station house officer came within five minutes but the fire engines came late. Two flats also caught fire but thankfully, no one was injured in the incident."
 

A police officer said the fire is suspected to have started due to a short circuit in electric wires outside the Zaika Restaurant.

But the intensity of the fire was so high that it soon spread to the restaurant and its neighbouring restaurants and shops. Since the lanes were narrow, the DFS vehicles took time to reach the spot, he said.

Several videos of the incident surfaced on social media showing the buildings engulfed in high flames and locals running to safety.

Station officer from DFS, Praveen Kumar said no LGP cylinder blast or any other incident took place, otherwise, the damage could be greater. The fire is completely doused now.

Three restaurants, two shops and two flats were gutted in the fire, officials said.

Meanwhile, a local shopkeeper Zubair Siddiqi said, "Had it been controlled in time, this massive loss could have been averted,"

The police said the actual reason for the fire is yet to be ascertained. A case is being registered and further investigations are underway.