A huge fire erupted in Peshawar’s mobile plaza late at night and has yet to be brought under control. The authorities called firefighters and vehicles from different districts of the city. Contingents of the army also participated in rescue operations.

According to the fire officer, the blaze erupted for unknown reasons and engulfed the entire building. Over 130 firefighters, 26 fire vehicles, and four water bowsers have been working since last night to control the fire.

Corps Commander Peshawar Lieutenant General Hasan Azhar Hayat said contingents of the Pakistan army are also participating in the operation and that 70% of the fire has been extinguished.

The spokesperson of Rescue 1122 told Aaj News that the authorities are seeking aid including water, fire vehicles, and firefighters from Mardan, Charsadda, and Khyber.

He said the building has stores that sell batteries, UPS, and mobile accessories which exploded after the fire and increased its intensity.

According to Market owner Haji Shaukat, 62 regular shops and over 50 warehouse/stores were damaged in the fire.

As per the estimate from authorities, the blaze damaged different types of equipment worth millions of rupees.

Houses near the affected building have been evacuated.

The spokesperson of Rescue 1122 Bilal Ahmad Faizi said that the process of extinguishing the fire in Mobile Plaza has been going on since 2:00 am.

He said that it is a difficult operation because the plaza has only one entrance and there are around 200 shops inside and it is difficult to get inside.

Bilal Faizi said that there are mobile batteries in the shops and when the fire is extinguished in one place, the fire flares up again due to the batteries.

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He said that they cannot allow anyone to enter due to the bursting of batteries, the batteries are exploding intermittently due to which there is a risk of damage, and it will take time to control the fire completely.

Shah Faisal, a shopkeeper in the market told Aaj News: “Fire was reported around 1:00 am. The fire had engulfed the entire market until the rescue teams reached over there.

“We do not even know the reason for the fire,” he said.

He said that the market known as ‘Mini China’ lost millions due to this incident.