At least 45 shops were damaged when the fire broke out at a furniture market in Garibabad area of Karachi, 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Saturday. 

The city fire brigade officials said that the blaze had been brought under complete control. 

The fire broke out in a furniture godown which soon engulfed the other shops and factories in the vicinity.  

The furniture market has around 70 shops out of which 45 small and big shops were damaged by the fire, claimed shopkeepers. Furniture worth millions of rupees was gutted. 

They said that two people had sustained injuries in their efforts to extinguish the fire. 

Fire brigade officer Shahid Qadri said they were ill-treated by shopkeepers. He said they faced difficulties in dousing the fire. Qadri said that number of shops gutted in the fire was yet to be ascertained.

In another incident in Karachi’s North Nazimabad area, the stage prepared for bride and groom caught fire at a marriage hall. 

The marriage hall administration doused the fire with the help of fire extinguishers. As the fire broke out, people rushed to the exit points to save their lives and there was a stampede. 

There was no loss of life. Police party also reached the marriage hall as they were informed about the incident. 

Separately in Phalia, a warehouse of Govt Pilot Secondary School caught fire on Saturday which reduced books worth tens of millions of rupees to ashes. The incident took place due to short-circuiting. 

After being informed, fire brigade and Rescue 1122 teams reached the site and extinguished the fire. The blaze in no time engulfed the whole warehouse. The warehouse was being used as a bookstore to supply books to the entire Phalia tehsil. 

Reporters Imtiaz Ali, Javed Qaim Khani and Shuja Bhatti