By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: A major fire tore through Islamabad’s H-9 Sunday Bazaar on Tuesday, destroying more than 70 shops before emergency services managed to bring the blaze largely under control, according to officials and rescue authorities.
The fire spread rapidly through the densely packed market, where closely built stalls and stored goods allowed flames to travel quickly from one section to another. Rescue teams said the intensity of the blaze forced an urgent escalation of response, with additional fire tenders dispatched from neighbouring Rawalpindi to support local firefighting units already on site.
Officials confirmed that Assistant Commissioner for the I-9 sector arrived at the scene shortly after the incident was reported and supervised the emergency response operations. District administration later stated that the fire had been about 75% contained after several hours of sustained effort, although complete extinguishing work was still underway at the time of the latest update.
The blaze was reported to have broken out at nine separate points within the bazaar, six of which had been extinguished by firefighters, while crews continued to tackle the remaining hotspots. Rescue 1122 teams from Rawalpindi joined Islamabad’s emergency units in what authorities described as a coordinated containment operation under difficult conditions.
Officials said that a day before the incident, nine shopkeepers had been arrested in separate raids for violating the ban on LPG cylinders in commercial markets, underscoring ongoing regulatory challenges in enforcing safety rules in crowded trading areas.
As cooling operations continued, authorities began assessing the extent of financial losses and structural damage. Early indications suggested significant destruction to goods and stalls, though a detailed damage report had yet to be compiled.
