No injuries as fire rips through three shops at Bara taxi rank

Panic gripped the Bara taxi rank on Wednesday morning when flames ripped through a Pakistani-owned shop and leapt to two neighbouring businesses.

As smoke filled the air and goods went up in flames, people trapped inside scrambled out across the roof to escape.

Firefighters moved in to contain the inferno and keep it from spreading. Emergency services later confirmed that no-one had been injured.

Property owner Stanley Morale said the three shops were rented to Pakistan nationals who have businesses in the buildings.

Morale said he made sure his tenants had proper documentation and denied the fire was linked to protests against illegal migration.

“We were told this morning that there was fire in one shop but that it had spread to the other two shops. We don’t know what caused the fire.

“Police are investigating, they said they’ll give us the report. We suspect an electrical fault,” said Morale.

A man who gave his name as Babu, a Pakistani who was helping clear the shops, said they were not sure how the fire started but he heard that there were people sleeping inside the shop who managed to escape by climbing through the roof as the smoke filled the shop.

“I heard there were people who were sleeping inside the shop. They woke up at about six and everything was normal. They are not sure what caused the fire,” said Babu. “They managed to get out through the roof, and people were helping them,” he added.

A woman trading near the three shops said she saw smoke coming from the building.

“It happened so fast. One minute there was smoke, the next the whole place was on fire,” said the trader, who asked not to be named.

Morale added that equipment, shop fittings and stock in all affected shops were damaged. The extent of damage is yet to be determined.

TimesLIVE